December 04, 2008

Indonesia to start limiting coal export in 2009

According to local media, Indonesian government will limit the export of coal to 150 million tonnes a year from 2009 to 2025 to secure domestic supplies.

Bisnis Indonesia newspaper quoted Mr Simon Felix director general of coal industry as saying that "The policy was adopted in the 2004 Indonesian Coal Policy. Coal export is allowed under the ceiling of 150 million tonnes a year.”

As per report, Indonesia needs stable supplies of huge amount of coals to fuel at least 35 new power plants to operate in 2009. State run electricity company PLN alone will need supplies of up to 75 million tonnes of coal in 2010 to fuel its generators.

Indonesia produced some 193 million tons of coal in 2006, with export sales accounting for about 70% of its production.