A worker stands on the back of a truck loaded with coal at Karya Citra Nusantara (KCN) Marunda Port in Jakarta on Jan. 17, after Indonesia eased an export ban on the commodity.(Photo: AFP) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy andMineral Resources (EMR) is mulling over a proposal toraise the domestic market obligation (DMO) for coal from 25 percent to 30percent of total production to anticipate rising domestic demand, Minister Arifin Tasrif has said.
He said that the government was "monitoring the domesticelectricity sector and industries’ demand" to make adecision.
Earlier at the hearing with the EMR on January 13, Committee VII of the House of Representatives, which oversees theenergy and mining sectors, suggested increasingDMO to 30 percent of total output to meet coal consumption demand.
The committee's chairman Sugeng Suparwoto said that increasing the DMO ratio is veryimportant" as coal-fired power plants with an estimated total capacity of35,000 MW will start operating in the next few years, raising coal consumptionof domestic thermal power plants to about 175 million tonnes per year.
The plan to raise the DMO ratio was carried out after thegovernment issued a month-long ban on coal exports on January 1 to solve theshortage of reserves of the National State Electric Power Company (PLN).
The ban has caused coalprices in China and Australia to increase sharply. Currently, the CoordinatingMinistry of Maritime and Investment Affairs, Ministry of Trade, EMR andPLN are determining measures to ensure DMO compliance over the long term.
The EMR's figures showed thatthe DMO for coal reached 133 million tonnes last year, or 96 percent of thetarget level, while total production hit 614 million tonnes, or 98 percent of the target level of 625 million tonnes.The electricity, metallurgy and cement sectors consumed 112.13 million tonnes, 11.39million tonnes and 4.45 million tonnes, respectively, of the total amountimplemented by DMO./.
