Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set the benchmark coal price or locally known as Harga Batubara Acuan (or HBA) at USD 91.80/MT in February this year, falling for a seventh consecutive month in a row, according to data from the ministry website.
The benchmark coal price was set at USD 92.41/MT in Jan’19. The price of the commodity had been set at below the USD 100 mark since November last year.
The price of the commodity continued to fall to USD 97.90/MT in Nov’18 and USD 92.51/MT in Dec’18.
The government though did not give a reason for a persistent fall in the benchmark coal price in February.
Katadata newspaper reported on Tuesday citing Agung Pribadi, head of communication bureau at the ministry as saying that that a softening demand by China and India had been the main reason for the government to lower the benchmark price. “China is still consuming the coal produced in their domestic market,” Katadata reported.
Indonesia coal price had been on the declining trend since August last year. It was USD 107.83/MT in Aug’18, USD 104.81/MT in Sep’18 and continued its fall to USD 100.89/MT in Oct’18 and had fell below the USD 100 psychological level in Nov’18.
Leave a Reply