Coal price to be under pressure in Q1 2022
Tuesday, January 4 2022 - 02:58 PM WIB
Coal price is expected to weaken in the first quarter of 2022 due to a number of factors including the spread of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant and warmer winter, which would reduce demand for the commodity, according to the latest Indonesia Coal Report (ICR), published by PT Indeks Komoditas Indonesia (IKI).
China government intervention measures to stabilize coal prices among others by ramping up domestic production, and declining LNG prices are also expected to put pressure on the price of coal.
The report, however, has not taken into account the Indonesian government’s recent decision to temporarily ban the country’s coal export for a month starting 1 January 2022 to ensure coal supply for domestic power plants.
Meanwhile, in terms of export performance by province, the report said that East Kalimantan was the largest exporter in the January-October 2021 period, although export volume grew by only 5.8 percent year-on-year. Jambi Province saw the biggest increase in export volume of 101.6 percent during the period, while South Sumatra’s export jumped by 54 percent.
The report said that Indonesia’s coal export to China, the biggest coal market, grew by 63.1 percent in January-October 2021, year-on-year. But exports to India, the country’s second largest export market, fell 22.9 percent. (To subscribe to the Indonesia Coal Report, please contact Petromindo’s sales division)