Indonesia Investments Report – September 2022 Edition
8 October 2022 (closed)
Jakarta Composite Index (7,026.78) -49.84 -0.70%
GDP Growth Q2 2022 5.44% (y/y)
Inflation September 2022 5.95% (y/y)
Central Bank BI 7-Day Reverse Repo September 2022 4.25%
The government of Indonesia plans to raise royalties for coal mining companies that hold a Mining Business Permit (Izin Usaha Pertambangan, abbreviated IUP) by revising Government Regulation No. 9 – 2012 on Tariff and Types of Non-Tax Revenue in a move to generate more state income. R. Sukhyar, Director General for Coal and Mineral Resources at the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that the domestic coal industry remains a vital source of state income, particularly amid diminished mineral exports.
Foreign exchange earnings from the mineral sector have been limited in 2014 as the government introduced a ban on exports of mineral ore (per January 2014), part of the 2009 Mining Law, in an attempt to boost the country’s processing facilities and enhance future income from the export of added-value mineral products. As Indonesia still lacks sufficient smelting capacity this ban led to plunging mineral exports (despite some companies – Freeport Indonesia and Newmont Nusa Tenggara – being allowed to resume copper concentrate exports after renegotiations with the government) and it will take at least two or three years before these smelting facilities are build. To counteract the decline in state income from mineral exports, the Indonesian government thus wants to raise coal royalties. The government targets to obtain IDR 44.3 trillion (USD $3.5 billion) in non-tax state income in 2015, up from the IDR 39 trillion target last year. Last year’s target will most likely not be achieved as per 19 December 2014 non-tax state income amounted to IDR 34.3 trillion only. Sukhyar said that last year’s target cannot be achieved due to low global coal prices.
In Indonesia’s coal mining industry the authorities issue a Mining Business Permit (Izin Usaha Pertambangan, abbreviated IUP) to new coal mining companies. However, there are still companies that hold a Coal Contracts of Work (Perjanjian Karya Pengusahaan Pertambangan Batubara, or PKP2B). Generally, these PKP2B-holders are established larger players. The IUP has been introduced to replace the PKP2B. Coal royalties for PKP2B-holders are generally set at 13.5 percent, while the level of royalties for IUPs depend on the quality of the coal.
During the administration of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the government had already announced plans to raise coal royalties. However, this move met resistance from the domestic industry as coal mining companies were already experiencing a rough time amid low coal prices amid sluggish global demand (and rising stockpiles in China).
Sukyar said that Indonesia produced a total of 435 million tons of coal in 2014, above the target of 420 million tons. Most of domestically-produced coal in 2014 – about 359 million tons – was exported abroad while the remainder was absorbed by the domestic market. The government had set a domestic market obligation of 95 million tons of coal in 2014 but failed to achieve the target primarily because there was a delay in the establishment of electric steam power plants.
In 2015 the Indonesian government targets a coal production figure of 425 million tons, of which an estimated 333 million tons are to be exported abroad.
in million tons
Source: Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
• Coal Mining in Indonesia: Safeguarding Future Energy Sources
• Indonesia Coal Update: Export, Production and New License System
• Overview of the Coal Mining Industry of Indonesia
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