Indonesian coal miners may produce as much as 700 MnT coal next year, said Bambang Gatot Ariyono, director general of coal mineral and coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, citing results from the preliminary feasibility conducted by the country’s coal makers.
Such a forecast would mark a huge increase in coal production by Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The government need to contain such a huge increase in coal production to better reflect coal reserves in the country, Bambang added.
Bambang said that various coal producers in Indonesia have conducted their own feasibility study which revealed that they could produce as much as 700 MnT of coal in CY20 while coal reserve exploration is lagging behind.
He asserted that the condition has become a cause of concern for Indonesia because the country was facing difficulties in striking a good balance between supply and demand. Consequently, the government has set coal production target for CY20 at between 490 MnT to 530 MnT to limit its output.
For CY19, the government has set coal production target at 490 MnT. However, it is suspected that actual production may reach between 530 MnT to 600 MnT, Bambang said.
Last year, against the coal production target of 485 MnT, the country’s actual production was recorded at 557 MnT.
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