Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral (ESDM) targets producing 663 million tonnes of coal in 2022, up 7.9 percent against last year, given the government continuously adjusts policies related to the coal export ban in early January.

Coal barges are pictured as they queue to be pull along the Mahakam River in Samarinda, East Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on Aug 31, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS)

Minister of Energy and Mineral Arifin Tasrifi said at a briefing on the performance of ESDM in 2021 on January 12 that the country set a target of exploiting 663 million tonnes of coal in 2022.

Of these, 165.7 million tonnes are for domestic consumption and the rest are for export. It means that the coal export target in 2022 also increased by 14.3 percent compared to 435 million tonnes set out in 2021.

Indonesia's coal production reached 98.24 percent of the set target of 625 million tonnes in 2021, equivalent to 614 million tonnes.

Earlier, Director General of Minerals and Coal Ridwan Djamaluddin said that in 2021, only 15 percent out of 634 domestic coal companies fulfilled obligations to supply coal to the domestic market to serve power generation and industry. Ridwan suggested coal companies improve their policies and increase their responsibility to the country.

Source: VNA