Indonesia’ coal reference price showed a downward trend in July 2019, where the benchmark price was set at US$71.92/ton, dropped 11.7 % compared to last month’s US$81.48/ton. The policy of China and India to raise coal production and suppressing imports is one of the factors weakening these prices.
China and India are countries that control most of the demand for importing coal. China accounts for 22% of the total demand for world imported coal, while India for 19%.
This year, China will raise coal production capacity by 194 million tons. The Chinese coal association has also set a target of increasing production by 100 million tons in 2019.
Likewise India, the volume of domestic coal production is targeted to reach 8.75% for the fiscal year 201-20, from 8.1% for the 2018-19 fiscal year. In addition, coal availability is abundant as Russia sells coal to the Asian market.
