SOLUTION SOUGHT
Pandu Sjahrir, chairman of Indonesia Coal Miners Association (ICMA), said PLN is estimated to have 10 days of coal supply.
The power company has said it had secured 13.9 million tonnes of coal but wants 20 million tonnes to reach a 20-day inventory level for its power plants.
"We are ready to supply coal for the amount that PLN wants," Pandu said.
"The issue now is about shipment, but there should be a solution for this soon."
Fabby Tumiwa, executive director at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), an energy think tank, said transporting coal to power plants could take up to 10 days, but during wet periods such as January, loading alone could take up to four days, depending on vessel size and infrastructure.
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Fabby said smaller miners face risks of their coal not meeting the specifications of PLN, which has no coal blending facility.
"It is risky to ship their coal only to be rejected by PLN. They also cannot use small barges if they want to ship to PLN's plants in Java and Sumatra," Fabby said.
"They need larger vessels, which mean they need to wait for their coal to be pooled together ... It is a complicated logistic challenge."
Meanwhile, Minister Luhut said Indonesia was drawing up a new pricing structure for the so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO), where miners are required to sell 25% of their output to the local market with a maximum price of $70 per tonne for power generators.
"DMO is not going to be an issue anymore because we're going to make a new structure where PLN should buy at market price," he said.
