Indonesia halts coal exports from 34 mining companies

Coal exports from 34 coal mining companies have been suspended by Indonesia that failed to meet the domestic market obligations between January and July this year, as reported by an Indonesian source on Monday. Indonesia needs the coal miners to sell 25% of its production to the domestic market, primarily to state power utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). In case they fail to do so, it results in sanctions, including export suspension and fines. It has been reported that 34 miners had been temporarily banned from exporting. The Ministry of Energy said that some companies had issued sanctions for violating market rules but did not name the firms or mention how many would be affected by the measures in a post published on its website on August 7. Hendra Sinadia, the trade group's executive director, told the media that four were the members of the Indonesia Coal Miners Association (ICMA), out of the 34 companies listed in the document seen by an Indonesian source. Hendra told Reuters that the four companies gave separate assurance of their commitment to the government to meet their obligations before the document was issued, as far as they know. He added that the group backed the government move but sought structural improvements to avoid similar problems in the future. Hendra told the media that they support the user in that case, PLN, to carry out overall improvements in payment administration terms to infrastructure at the jetty for the coal unloading process, suppliers, inventory stock management, and so on. As per the Indonesian sources, PT Arutmin Indonesia, a unit of Indonesia's largest coal miner PT Bumi Resources, was banned from exporting. Image Source Also read: Coal imports in India grew by 20% to 19.92 mt in May