The country exported 458.8 million tons of coal in 2019, according to data from the Indonesian Coal Miners Association (APBI).
The coronavirus crisis “significantly affected” global coal markets, including Indonesia, Pandu Sjahrir, Chairman of APBI, said in the Coaltrans industry webinar.
Global demand for marine transport, estimated at 980 million tons before the crisis in 2020, has been revised to 895 million tonnes.
Ships from Indonesia were hit by a lockdown in China this year and ongoing restrictions on coronavirus in India and the Philippines, he said.
“Indonesian thermal coal has been majorly impacted given around 65% of Indonesia thermal coal exports are to those three countries,” Sjahrir said, adding he did not expect global demand for coal to recover to the 2019 level until 2022.
Agung Pribadi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, said in the Ministry’s statement that Indonesia was talking about increasing exports to new markets such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Indonesia produced 228 million tons of coal by May, or about 42% of its full year output target of 550 million tonnes, according to the statement.
