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Sunday, 20 June 10
OUR COAL: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
 Indonesia’s production of coal has been growing amazingly. In the mid 1980s, national coal production was less than 1 million tons per annum, whereas energy planners (in the fourth Five Year Development Plan: 1989-1994) pointed at 10 million tons as the national production target.
The current production has jumped dramatically, recorded as 237 million tons in 2008 (predicted to achieve 270 million tons this year), making Indonesia a world class producer and the largest exporter of coal around the globe. The skyrocketing growth of our coal production has also incited many controversial issues.
Coal is considered as the dirtiest among fossil fuels, making environmentalists oppose their wide use
as fuel.
However, the proposal for ceasing use of coal — power generation, for instance — would be challenged by power utilities demanding low cost fuel that coal may offer and by the government, which has the responsibility to provide electricity as well as have revenue from exploiting its energy resources.
Despite the world’s rising anxiety of global warming, IEA (International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2009) statistics shows that the world consumption for coal, for the last decade, is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.
The environmental problem associated with coal in Indonesia is not limited to green houses gases (GHG), but also damage and pollution since its exploitation, transportation and uses to post mining.
It is easy to find where many coal fields are not mined appropriately according to “good mining and environmental practices”, coal transportation is not considering safety standards and is damaging rivers, (public) roads and seashores.
The coal mining has polluted the land, water and air of especially Kalimantan, where more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s coal mining operations take place.
It is sad that many of the previous mining areas have been abandoned without being properly reclaimed, whereas thousands of hectares of the island’s tropical forests have been converted into desert.
The soaring exploitation, including its negative impact on the environment, has a strong correlation with the number of licensing/permits awarded.
The introduction of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, subsequently followed by the 1999 Fiscal Balancing Law between the Central and Regional Governments have — to some degree — impacted on the coal licensing regime, where larger authorities had been given to regional/local governments.
Under the new licensing regime by local governments, requirements for coal permits tend to be relaxed whereas monitoring has not been done properly.
As a result, the number of permits (Mining Authorization/KP) has been growing considerably (currently 462, of which 169 are producing), coal production increases, but also environmental problems and the issues of illegal mining exist.
The question of who really owns the KP licenses exists, which was defined as that it can be owned by Indonesian national/companies only.
While the largest part of coal in Indonesia are being produced by large companies (the holders of Coal Contract of Work/PKP2B), some coal is mined by small scale and illegal miners.
It is believed that a significant amount of coal has been produced by illegal miners (some 5 million tons annually) and part has gone to meet export demand.
Wherever in the world, illegal miners lack interest in responsible mining and mine rehabilitation practices. Illegal mining is a problem for potential investors, the environment and government revenues.
The government has introduced measures to crack down on problems, including arresting illegal miners.
However, it cannot be the only solution since illegal mining is actually rooted in underemployment, local poverty and weak law enforcement, while the number of people involved in these activities is quite significant.
An alternative to confrontation to illegal miners by the central government (who awards the large scale PKP2B mining license) should be a cooperative and more comprehensive approach.
“Despite the world’s anxiety of global warming, IEA statistics shows that the world consumption for coal is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.”
Work together with local/rural governments and communities to reduce poverty, educate/assist the illegal miners to increase their awareness on good mining practices (including mine rehabilitation), provide transition period fiscal incentives to encourage illegal mining toward the regulated mining sector, among others.
It needs to maintain an appropriate balance between the soaring exports of coal (about three quarters of production on average) and the domestic growing demand for the same fuel.
Push for exports is still coming largely from the traditional East Asians (Japan is the largest), while the coal-hungry India and China are also increasing their demand for our coal.
The exports will be competed with by the Blue Print for Energy Management 2005-2025 pointing out that one third of Indonesia’s energy primary energy mix in 2025 is to be supplied by coal, (the current share is about 15 percent).
Even though it is often mentioned that our coal reserves are quite large (current proven reserves of 5.5 billion tons; estimated resources of 105 tones) and that our reserves for coal are much larger than that of oil and gas, we should watch their fast rate of exploitation cautiously.
It needs to recalculate the benefit of exploiting them, taking into account their damage to the environment and what is left post mining. Where have all the revenues from exploiting that coal gone? Is the escalating export not jeopardizing the domestic energy security in the near future?
We have ample experiences, for instance in exploiting the resources-rich Kalimantan. The forests, oil and gas reserves have been exploited for about four to five decades, but it seems that the island has not enjoyed the fruits of the excessive exploitation: the current regional economy remains weak, infrastructure is poor and energy supplies for local uses have not been secured.
It needs to promote the terms “resources balance, depletion, sustainability”, start internalizing the costs of environmental impact and enforce those concepts into workable policies for our coal mining development.
The writer is the senior energy planner and an economist with the National Development Planning Agency. The opinions expressed are his own.
Source: The Jakarta Post ( Hanan Nugroho)
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Tuesday, 08 May 12
DRY BULK MARKET LOOKING FOR NEW DIRECTION THIS WEEK - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
With the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) the main benchmark of the dry bulk shipping industry not traded at the start of this week, traders, charterers and s ...
Monday, 07 May 12
INDONESIAN HBA FALL AGAIN IN MAY 2012
COALspot.com - Indonesian HBA fall again to lowest level since January 2011 in May 2012. The monthly coal reference price for coal sales in Ma ...
Sunday, 06 May 12
INDONESIAN SUB-BITUMINOUS COAL & CFR SOUTH CHINA SWAPS SLIGHTLY DROP THIS WEEK
COALspot.com - Indonesian sub-bituminous coal swaps and CFR South China coal contracts for June deliveries slightly dropped this week.
According ...
Sunday, 06 May 12
S7 & S8 ROUTES LIKELY TO BE FIRM NEXT WEEK VISTAAR SINGAPORE
COALspot.com - The BDI remained flat this week and was up just by 1 point closing at 1,157 points.
The cape size index was up by 5.14 pct closing ...
Sunday, 06 May 12
EXPORT DUTY ON MINERAL FINALLY TO BECOME EFFECTIVE NEXT WEEK
COALspot.com - Mineral ore exporters of Indonesia ( only IUP holders) are required to obtain recommendation letter from the energy and mineral ...
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- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- White Energy Company Limited
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
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