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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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Friday, 20 April 12
PANAMAXES LEAD DRY BULK MARKET TO HIGHER GROUND - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
A rebound of demand for smaller dry bulk carriers has led the industry’s benchmark, the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) above the 1,000-point mark for ...
Friday, 20 April 12
BUMA HAS PRODUCED 2.6 MILLION TONS OF COAL IN MARCH 2012
COALspot.com - BUMA has removed 28.0 million bcm (+6.4% YoY) of overburden in March 2012 while coal production was at 2.6 million tons (+1.3% YoY).
...
Thursday, 19 April 12
FRESH COAL SALES FROM JATENERGYS JONGKANG MINES
COALspot.com - Energy company Jatenergy Ltd (ASX code JAT) announced today that it had signed a contract for an 11,000 tonne coal sale due for shipm ...
Thursday, 19 April 12
HANDY - 'POSITIVE TREND', PANAMAX - 'A FIRMER TENDENCY', CAPESIZE - 'AGAIN NEGATIVE'
Handy
The positive trend from last week continued, with more cargoes entering the market. Skaw/Passero del fixed tick above USD 4000 for US Gulf di ...
Thursday, 19 April 12
WILLIS MARINE MARKET REVIEW FORECASTS ANOTHER DIFFICULT YEAR - WILLIS GLOBAL MARINE / HELLENIC SHIPPING
After an inauspicious start, 2012 could well be "another difficult and uncertain year for the maritime industry faced with the aftermath of the ...
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- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
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- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
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- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
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- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
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- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
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- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Planning Commission, India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Australian Coal Association
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
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- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
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- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- VISA Power Limited - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
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