As China tightens imports, coal price in January 2020 drops to US$65.93 per ton

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif through Ministerial Decree (Kepmen) No.2K/30 MEM/2020 set the market selling price for coal in January 2020 at 65.93 US dollars per ton.

The price edged down by 0.37 US dollars per ton from the December Reference Coal Price (HBA) of 66.30 US dollars per ton, according to a press release from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as quoted here on Wednesday.

The Head of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources’ Communication and Public Information and Cooperation Agency (KLIK), Agung Pribadi, said that one of the triggers for the HBA reduction in January 2020 was because China tightens the requirements on coal imports.

“The cause of the decline in the coal price in January 2020 is the tightening of coal import requirements to China and the performance of coal imports in importing countries, especially in the Asian region such as China, India, Japan and South Korea, which is increasingly declining,” Agung noted.

The January HBA will be used for direct sales (spot) for one month at the point of sale on Free on Board on a transport vessel (FOB Vessel).

The HBA is obtained from an average of four coal price indices that are commonly used in the world coal trade, namely the Indonesia Coal Index (ICI), the Newcastle Export Index (NEX), the Global Coal Newcastle Index (GCNC), and Platt’s 5900 in the previous month.

Reporting by Indonesia Window