Coal miners association denies breaking the anti-monopoly law

The chairman of Indonesian coal mining companies (APBI), Jeffrey Mulyono denied the charge made by a senior member of the business competition watchdog that the association had acted as a cartel.

Jeffrey said Saturday that the association which was established by Indonesian coal producers as a non-profit organization had never acted as a cartel or broke the antimonopoly law.

Unlike a cartel which determines the prices of products produced by its members, APBI only acted as a communication forum for its members. "It is the members that determine the prices," he said. According to him, the association only expressed that the members wanted the prices of their coal to be sold to PLN be increased in line with the price trend in the international market.

"It is up to the supplier and PLN to decide the prices," he said, adding that the association would be ready to act as the mediator in the price negotiation process. "Certainly, we have no intention to intervene the market mechanism," he added.

Earlier, Murman Budianto, a communication director of the Commission for Business Competition Supervision (KPPU) said that the recent statement made by APBI that it would raise the prices of the coal sold by its members to state owned electricity company PLN was in breach of the anti-monopoly law.

If a company plotted with other companies to fix the prices of their products or services, they certainly broke the anti-monopoly law, Murman said. "If APBI determines the prices of the coal that will be sold by its members to PLN, it is also against the antimonopoly law," he said.

The association said recently that its members would prefer to sell their coal to overseas buyers if PLN rejected the higher prices to be charged to the state electricity company. (dino)