Indonesia shipped 174.39 MnT of coal overseas in the first five months of this year (Jan’18-May’18), rising 11% from 157.02 MnT in the same period in 2017, data from Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank shows.
Coal exports stood 36.354 MnT in May’18. Exports had surged nearly 16% from May’17 of 31.25 MnT and climbed by nearly 8% from Apr’18.
Bank Indonesia didn’t give details on the buyers nor the reason for the increase in the export volume.
But since the middle of 2017, Indonesia, as other coal-majors, has enjoyed a recovery in China’s appetite for overseas thermal coal even as the country has been trying to reign air pollution. Demand from other major consumers including India and Southeast Asian nations have been a boon for Indonesian miners.
Hendra Sinadia, executive director at the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (ICMA), said friendly weather this year has helped miners increasing production and minimizing shipping disruption.
“Wet weather had disrupted much of the production last year, leading to lower exports in May,”Sinadia told Coalmint in a phone interview.
Indonesia expects to produce 485 MnT of coal this year, rising 5.2% from 461 MnT last year. With domestic consumption is targeted at 121 MnT, exports will be around 364 MnT for 2018, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has said.
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