Coal miners required to process output

Starting April of this year, coal miners in the country will be required to process their output to generate greater value from the commodity, Kontan daily reported on Tuesday.

The paper said that the requirement is stipulated in the recently revised Government Regulation No 23/2010 on coal and mineral mining.

Director of Coal Business Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Edi Prasodjo told the paper that under the revised regulation coal producers will be required to further process their output into various value added products such as gas, liquid, or briquette. The newly revised regulation is expected to be effective in April.

He added that the ministry is planning to provide incentives for miners setting up coal liquefaction or gasification plants. The government will also provide sanction ranging from warning to license revocation for miners failing to meet the new requirement.

Miners, already suffering from the lingering downturn in the global coal market and imminent burden from the planned increase in coal royalty, will certainly protest the policy. Executive Secretary of the Indonesia Coal Mining Association (APBI) Supriatna Suhala said that setting up coal blending facility will require miners to invest at least US$100 million. (*)