Government issues 60 coal-trading licenses

The government has issued 60 licenses to traders that will allow them to export coal stuck at ports since last month, an official said.

?With these permits, we expect coal shipments will return to normal,? Bambang Setiawan, director general of minerals and coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, told a conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Some coal traders declared force majeure on shipments of coal amounting to at least 3.5 million tonnes when the Ministry of Trade blocked the exports. The ministry made the move because the traders had yet to obtain licenses from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

Following protests from the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Darwin Saleh finally issued the trading licenses to a number of traders.

?We are pleased with the issuance of these permits as a larger potential loss could be avoided,? Kamandanu told reporters today at the conference. At least a further 50 trading houses have yet to obtain the new licences because they haven?t completed paperwork, he said. (bernard)