Coal industry breathes sigh of relief as Indonesia signals end to export ban
- Fourteen vessels are poised to depart the country imminently, easing industry concerns of a looming supply shortage
- Prices of thermal coal futures fell on Tuesday as market anxieties eased
Jakarta has indicated it will allow the 14 carriers to depart as soon as they receive permits from mining and transport authorities.
The director of sea transport Mugen Suprihatin Sartoto told Reuters that the transport ministry was now just waiting for a final green light from the energy ministry.
In anticipation of a resolution of the ban that had gripped exporters and regional power plants since it was imposed at the start of the year, prices of thermal coal futures continued to fall on Tuesday as market anxieties over tightened supplies eased.
Thermal coal prices traded on the Zhengzhou commodity exchange have fallen nearly 5 per cent since Monday when Indonesia’s senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan flagged the possibility of lifting the ban, saying Jakarta had accumulated enough coal to stave off a domestic coal crunch that could have triggered power outages.
While Jakarta has amassed more than enough coal to meet the shortfall of 5.1 million tonnes that it had been facing, it is now looking to stockpile 20 million tonnes, which would cover 20 days’ worth of domestic use.