Indonesia bans coal exports due to concerns about domestic supply

Indonesia banned coal exports in January due to concerns about a shortage of supply to domestic power plants.

In a letter quoted by local media Kumparan on Saturday, the State’s Ministry of Energy instructed that all coal in the port needs to be stored to supply power plants and independent power producers (IPPs). did.

“The export ban will be evaluated and revisited based on the realization of PLN power plants and IPP coal inventories,” the letter said.

The ministry and PLN did not immediately respond to the request for comment, but said the Indonesian Coal Miners Association would issue a statement on the export ban.

In August 2021, Indonesia suspended coal exports from 34 coal mining companies that said they failed to meet their domestic market obligations between January and July last year.

World’s largest steam coal exporter

Southeast Asian countries are the world’s largest exporters of steam coal, exporting approximately 400 million tons in 2020.

Its largest customers are China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Indonesia has a so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) policy, where coal miners spend up to $ 70 per ton, well below the current market price, and 25% of their annual production in the state-owned electricity utility. Must be supplied to Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

Indonesia is one of the top 10 greenhouse gas emissions in the world, with coal accounting for about 60 percent of its energy source.

read more: Despite climate change commitments, coal-generated energy hits hit record highs

Source: TRT World and distributors