By Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman

The government has set Indonesia’s coal price reference (HBA) for February at US$91.8 per ton, 0.6 percent lower than the reference in January of $92.41 per ton, in response to China and India’s ongoing protection policies.

“Both countries will intensify the use of domestic coal,” Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s spokesperson Agung Pribadi said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Other factors include the price movement of the Indonesia Coal Index (ICI), the Newcastle Export Index (NEX), the Globalcoal Newcastle Index (GCNC) and January’s Platss 5900.

February’s HBA is stipulated under Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Decree No.18 K/30/MEM/2019 and will be used as the calculation basis for February’s direct sales of coal.

The government has projected that this year’s production target will not be much different from 2018’s total coal production of 485 million tons — 25 percent of which is allocated for domestic market obligation (DMO).

The government has also continued its policy to cap the coal price for electricity purposes at $70 dollar per ton, with the aim of maintaining the electricity price at the current level. (bbn)