The Indonesian government has ensured coal exports will reopen in stages, said a senior official late January 10, after a full ban on coal exports was imposed for 10 days.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs, on January 10 said 14 vessels filled with coal and paid by the buyer are allowed to depart on January 11 after verified by the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal and the Directorate General of Sea Transportation.
Jakarta enacted a coal export ban for the entire month of January on December 31 after the state utility PLN reported extremely low inventory level that may endanger power supply for 10 million people.
The partial lift of the ban came after PLN's inventory crunch has been largely eased. PLN said last week it had secured 13.9 million tonnes of coal and still needed another 6.1 million tonnes to reach a minimum inventory level of 20 days of use.
The government will review the withdrawal of the export ban on January 12, further discussing matters including the fulfillment of domestic market obligation (DMO) after the export restarts and whether coal miners that don't sign contacts with PLN or whose coal specifications are not required by PLN are allowed to export.
Under the current DMO regulation, miners are required to sell 25% of their output to domestic power plants at a maximum price of $70/t. Luhut has said the government will come up with a new pricing mechanism so that PLN would buy from domestic miners at the market price. The new mechanism may involve collecting a coal levy, which is still pending discussions in a week.
Luhut also instructed that coal supply contracts to PLN must use CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) terms so that logistics and delivery arrangements are the responsibility of the coal suppliers.
PLN should not buy from traders but coal mines with good credibility, he added.
Source: sxcoal
Source: sxcoal
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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