Coal Mining Industry Indonesia Update: HBA Price Soaring
Ever since China decided to streamline its coal industry by limiting output (combating the local oversupply), global coal prices have jumped sharply. Indonesia's benchmark thermal coal price (known as the Harga Batubara Acuan, or HBA) - a monthly price that is set by Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and is based on domestic and international coal indices - soared 22.9 percent (m/m) to USD $84.89 per metric ton in November 2016 (from USD $69.07 per ton in the preceding month).
Starting from June 2016, Indonesia's HBA price has been rising rapidly, currently touching the highest level since May 2013. This remarkable growth is primarily caused by two factors: (1) the above-mentioned new policies of China aimed at capping domestic coal mining output (to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement), and (2) supply cuts in coal producing nations (the prolonged decline in coal prices between 2011 and mid-2016 caused financial troubles for numerous coal miners across the globe and therefore they had to reduce - or completely shut down - operations in 2015 and 2016).
Indonesian Government's Benchmark Thermal Coal Price (HBA):
| Month | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
2016 |
| January | 109.29 | 87.55 | 81.90 | 63.84 | 53.20 |
| February | 111.58 | 88.35 | 80.44 | 62.92 | 50.92 |
| March | 112.87 | 90.09 | 77.01 | 67.76 | 51.62 |
| April | 105.61 | 88.56 | 74.81 | 64.48 | 52.32 |
| May | 102.12 | 85.33 | 73.60 | 61.08 | 51.20 |
| June | 96.65 | 84.87 | 73.64 | 59.59 | 51.87 |
| July | 87.56 | 81.69 | 72.45 | 59.16 | 53.00 |
| August | 84.65 | 76.70 | 70.29 | 59.14 | 58.37 |
| September | 86.21 | 76.89 | 69.69 | 58.21 | 63.93 |
| October | 86.04 | 76.61 | 67.26 | 57.39 | 69.07 |
| November | 81.44 | 78.13 | 65.70 | 54.43 | 84.89 |
| December | 81.75 | 80.31 | 69.23 | 53.51 |
in USD/ton
Source: Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
Indonesian Production, Export, Consumption & Price of Coal:
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Production (in million tons) |
217 | 240 | 254 | 275 | 353 | 412 | 474 | 458 | 461 |
| Export (in million tons) |
163 | 191 | 198 | 210 | 287 | 345 | 402 | 382 | 366 |
| Domestic (in million tons) |
61 | 49 | 56 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 72 | 76 | 87 |
| Price (HBA) (in USD/ton) |
n.a | n.a | 70.7 | 91.7 | 118.4 | 95.5 | 82.9 | 72.6 | 60.1 |
Sources: Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) & Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources