Indonesia Cuts Power-Station Coal Price to 18-Month Low

Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter of power-station coal, cut its benchmark price for the fuel to the lowest level in 18 months.

Coal with a gross heating value of 6,322 kilocalories per kilogram cost $102.12 a metric ton on a free-on-board basis in May, down 3.3 percent from $105.61 in April, the Directorate General of Coal and Minerals at the ministry said today in a statement on its website. That is the lowest price since November 2010, according to the ministry’s data.

Below is a list of price references used to calculate the cost of coal of similar quality in Indonesia, compiled by the energy ministry. Grades are in kilocalories a kilogram and prices are in dollars a ton.

                        May    April   March    Feb.     Jan.
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Price Reference        102.12  105.61  112.87  111.58   109.29
Month-on-Month (%)       -3.3    -6.4     1.2     2.1     -3.0
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Price Markers
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Coal Brands         Grade                Price
                             May    April     March    Feb
================================================================
Gunung Bayan I      7,000  109.81  113.59    121.46   120.06
Prima Coal          6,700  108.32  111.86    119.22   117.91
Pinang 6150         6,200   97.67  100.85    107.47   106.30
Indominco IM_East   5,700   83.33   86.15     92.02    90.97
Melawan Coal        5,400   79.08   81.59     86.81    85.89
Envirocoal          5,000   73.28   75.50     80.12    79.30
Jorong J-1          4,400   59.07   60.87     64.60    63.94
Ecocoal             4,200   53.66   55.26     58.58    57.99
================================================================

Note: Percentage changes are calculated by Bloomberg News. The price reference is an average of the Indonesia Coal Index, Platts-1, Newcastle Export Index and the globalCOAL NEWC Index from the previous month. The average of the price reference for the last three months is used to set prices for a one-year contract for the following year. For sales in barges, the reference price excludes the cost of barging and transshipment into the vessel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fitri Wulandari in Jakarta at fwulandari@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net