JAKARTA, Jan 1 — Indonesia has decided to temporarily halt coal exports in January to meet its domestic demand, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Its director-general of Mineral and Coal, Ridwan Jamaludin said the availability of coal for electricity in the country is currently very low and could disrupt the country’s electricity supply.
The ban that comes into effect today until January 31 will be reviewed based on existing stocks, he said in a statement, adding that coal supplies at state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN) Group and independent power producer are currently critical.
The ministry has set a domestic market obligation policy on coal production, whereby 25 per cent of the production has to be sold to PT PLN.
Last November, PT PLN told parliament that coal consumption for power generation is likely to rise to 119 million tonnes in 2022 from 115.6 million tonnes last year.
Indonesia is the world’s largest thermal coal exporter, exporting around 405 million metric tonnes in 2020.
— Bernama
