Illustrative photo (Source: Jakarta Post)Indonesia has set its coal production target at 550 million tonnes for 2021, a figure unchanged from this year, due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Coal business director Sujatmiko at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) told reporters at the 2020 Coal and Mineral Virtual Expo on December 10 that the target takes into account economic recovery, following the COVID-19 pandemic, for both the domestic and export markets.
Sujatmiko added that coal production had reached 513.6 million tonnes as of December 10 or 93 percent of this year’s target. The Indonesian government remains determined to meet this year’s coal production target, despite the lower demand.
The Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) previously said it expected coal demand to really start recovering in the second half of 2021, assuming that most of the world successfully distributes a COVID-19 vaccine by that time.
Earlier this month, Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered his cabinet ministers to set a target to reduce exports of unprocessed coal and accelerate plans to develop derivative industries for processing the fuel.