Riau can't compete other provinces in coal

Head of the mining office of the Riau province said Riau could not compete other provinces in coal exports because the price of its coal was too high caused by the high transportation costs, Riau Post reported.

He said the province's coal resources were located in the remote areas, including Kuantan Singingi , Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Kampar and coal producers face transportation problems to transport the coal to the provincial ports for exports.

Furthermore, he said, the nearby Perawang port had only a small loading capacity of 5,000 tons of coal.

Coal producers could take their coal to Teluk Bayur port in West Sumatra which has a much larger capacity of 40,000 tons, but the cost to transport coal to the port was very expensive, he said.

That's why Riau's coal could not compete coal from other provinces, including from West Sumatra, in terms of price, he said. (*)