RI?s coal output seen to exceed target

Indonesia?s coal production this year is expected to exceed the government?s target of 419 million tons, much of which will go to the export market, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted Director General of Mineral and Coal Bambang Gatot Ariyono as saying that while coal production in the first nine months of this year only reached 253 million tons, the production figure has yet to include output from many smaller coal miners holding the IUP mining business permit.

?The realized (2016 output) may be higher (than target) as production from the smaller IUP (coal miners) are uncontrollable,? Bambang said.

He added that much of this year?s coal production are expected to go to the export market.

Bambang said that last year the government set production target of 392 million tons, but realized output was 461 million tons.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources data, of the 253 million tons output during the January-September period, about 184 million tons went to the export market, and the 69 million tons to the domestic market.

Bambang said that domestic coal demand will start to increase significantly when the 35,000 MW power plant projects, must of which coal-fired plants, have been completed. (*)