Indonesia’s First-Quarter Coal Output, Exports Fall on Rains

Indonesia’s first-quarter coal production was below target after rains disrupted mining, said Bob Kamandanu, chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association. 

Output rose to 32.43 million metric tons in March from 27.15 million in February and 29.54 million in January, Kamandanu said in an interview at the Coal Upgrading & Conversion conference in Singapore today. The average for the quarter at 29.7 million tons a month compares with 30 million tons a month a year earlier. The monthly target this year was about 30 million tons. 

“Production was unchanged because of a very wet season,” Kamandanu said. “We hope to see a real dry season this year as most of last year was wet.” 

Indonesia’s coal production may rise to between 335 million and 370 million tons this year, Kamandanu said at the conference. Output climbed to 325 million tons in 2010 from 283 million in 2009, he said. 

Exports of the fuel fell 5.9 percent to 68.8 million tons in the first quarter from 73.1 million a year earlier because of a delay in issuing trading permits by the government earlier this year, according to calculations based on Kamandanu’s data.

Overseas sales rose to 25.8 million in March from 20.3 million in February. Source: Bloomberg