Indonesian coal sector suffers due to India’s dropping demand
Indonesian coal miners are struggling with slow demand this year as businesses in India, one of the country’s major coal markets, hit the brakes due to a prolonged lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, a data firm has said.
Operational activities are carried out at the Tutupan coal mine in Indonesia (Photo: www.thejakartapost.com)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian coal miners arestruggling with slow demand this year as businesses in India, one of thecountry’s major coal markets, hit the brakes due to a prolonged lockdown tocontain the COVID-19 pandemic, a data firm has said.
India’s coal imports, a commodity mostlyused for power generation, is projected to decrease by 19.1 percentyear-on-year to 149 million tonnes, according to IHS Markit.
As a result, IHS Markit projects a 10 percent decline inIndonesian coal exports to 406 million tonnes in 2020, from last year’s figureof 451 million tonnes.
IHS Markit coal, metals and mining senior director JamesStevenson said India’s lower import projection was a result of slumpingbusiness and industrial activity during the country’s prolonged lockdown.
The consultancy now expects that India will reduce itsimports by about 35 million tonnes, he added.
It initially projected Indonesian coal exports at 419million tonnes before India announced an extended lockdown and before marketconditions worsened in Southeast and East Asia, which are Indonesia’s othermajor coal export markets.
India went into lockdown on March 24, when most businessesshut down. The country has extended the lockdown four times, which is expectedto last until May 31.
Indonesia is the world’s largest coal producer and dry fuelcontributes 14 percent of the country’s exports, Statistics Indonesia (BPS)data shows./.
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Operational activities are carried out at the Tutupan coal mine in Indonesia (Photo: www.thejakartapost.com)
