Indonesia fills 90% of coal needs in ASEAN

Indonesia has filled about 90 percent of the coal demand in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the past two years, according to the ASEAN Forum on Coal.

The forum chairman Sunardi said in his speech at the forum's first meeting in Jakarta on Monday that Indonesian coal exports to ASEAN rose sharply from only about 4.2 million tons in 1997 to 6.7 million tons in 1999, Suara Karya reported on Tuesday.

He estimated the coal demand from ASEAN countries would further increase in the coming years

In line with the continued rise in the use of the coal for power generation in the region. ASEAN countries will import at least 15 million tons of coal this year and the import volume would further increase to 29 million tons in 2005, he said.

Sunardi, also the president of state owned coal mining company PT Bukit Asam, said Indonesia, which at present produced about 72 million tons of coal a year should further raise its coal production to benefit from the surge in the coal demand in overseas market.

He said that about 56 million tons of the coal productions were exported to ASEAN and other countries and the remainders were sold in the domestic market to meet the demand from electricity companies.

AFOC was established in April 21 in Hanoi as a nonprofit organization to improve the coal development in ASEAN. Participants at the forum's first meeting will visit the Tarahan coal terminal in Lampung. (*)