Realized coal export during Jan-Nov 2010 reaches 273MT: BPS

Realized coal export during January-November 2010 reached 273 million tons, an increase of 31 percent compared to the same period of last year, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said on Monday.

BPS head Rusman Himawan said that during the period, coal export value reached about US$2.07 billion. ?The two commodities, particularly coal and CPO, have always been the biggest in terms of export contribution,? he said.

Realized coal export during 2009 only reached 198 million tons.

According to director executive Indonesian coal mining association (APBI) Supriatna Suhala, that there was a higher demand for coal during the fourth quarter of 2010 from European and East Asian countries due to winter season.

APBI predicts that coal export for this year will increase around 11.5 percent compared to the 2010 realized coal export. APBI is predicting that Indonesia will produce 300 million tons of coal throughout 2010. (*)