Coal Mining Industry Indonesia: Exports to China on the Rise
The value of Indonesia's coal exports to China during January-August 2017 reached USD $1.68 billion, up 63 percent compared to the export value of the commodity in the same period (to China) one year earlier (USD $1.03 billion) according to the Trade Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing.
However, Indonesia's coal export figures to China during the aforementioned January-August 2017 period are still relatively low compared to Australian coal exports to China. Australia exported USD $6.51 billion worth of coal to the world's second-largest economy over the same period.
Dandy Satria Iswara, Trade Attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, said "Indonesia is the second-biggest coal partner for China, accounting for 17.87 percent of total Chinese coal imports. Iswara made this statement on the sidelines of a presentation regarding Indonesia's coal potential at the China Coal & Mining Expo (CCME) in Beijing, a four-day event that started on 25 October 2017.
Although losing out to Australia in terms of coal exports to China, the position of Indonesia remains above Russia and Mongolia that each exported USD $1.51 billion and USD $1.46 billion worth of coal, respectively, to China.
Regarding the mild coal types, Indonesia's export value to China during January-August 2017 has reached USD $2.12 billion, up a whopping 88.7 percent compared to exports in the same period last year which was recorded at only USD $1.12 billion.
The value of light coal exports from Indonesia to China was highest, followed by the Philippines, Russia, Mongolia and Malaysia.
The potential of coal in Indonesia is estimated to be around 105.187 million tons with reserves estimated at 21.131 million tons spread over a number of islands but mostly concentrated on Kalimantan and Sumatra.
At the CCME event, the Indonesian pavilion was visited by many exhibition visitors, both from mainland China and abroad, who want to see - first hand - examples of coal from Indonesia mined by Borneo Pacific Global in East Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.