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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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Thursday, 26 April 12
PANAMAXES AGAIN EARN MORE THAN CAPESIZES - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The latest surge of demand for Panamaxes has led the dry bulk market to new higher ground on Monday, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) reaching 1,090 ...
Wednesday, 25 April 12
CHINA IMPORTS 9.76 MMT AND INDIA IMPORTS 7.03 MMT OF INDONESIAN COAL LAST MONTH
COALspot.com: Indonesia, the world largest coal exporter, shipped 30.64* million tons of coal in March 2012, compared to 27.12* million tons i ...
Monday, 23 April 12
ALTURA ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE 2 COAL PROJECTS IN SOUTH KALIMANTAN
COALspot.com - Altura Mining Limited (ASX: AJM) has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a further two (2) Mining Permits (IUP ...
Sunday, 22 April 12
THE FREIGHT MARKET EXPECTED TO REMAIN FIRM NEXT WEEK - VISTAAR
COALspot.com - The BDI has broken the psychological barrier of 1000 points and closed at 1067 points.
The cape index was slightly down by 2.48 pc ...
Saturday, 21 April 12
INDONESIAN SUB-BITUMINOUS COAL SWAPS DROP 2.61 PERCENT THIS WEEK
COALspot.com - Indonesian sub-bituminous coal swaps fell for a fifth day, according to DSP of SGX AsiaClear OTC Coal Swaps.
CFR South China Coal ...
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- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Australian Coal Association
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- PTC India Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
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