Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia will draft a ministerial decree on coal export prices, requiring exporters to use coal reference price. The regulation aims to encourage the coal industry to be more competitive, and the coal reference price can be used in the global market. Bahlil has stated that in violation of the coal reference price regulation, the export licence will be revoked. In January 2025, the reference coal price was USD 124.01 per tonne (minerba.esdm.go.id), which is higher than the USD 116.79 per tonne Newcastle benchmark.
The Indonesia Coal Index (ICI) is one of the coal reference price in Indonesia, and reported Indonesia coal exports in 2024 reached 550 million tonnes, and are increasing every year. Total global coal consumption is estimated at 8-8.5 billion tonnes, with a market circulation of 1.5 billion tonnes. This results in a global deficit of 7-7.5 billion tonnes between total coal use and market circulation. According to Bahlil, Indonesia stands to gain significantly by establishing itself as a pivotal player in determining the global coal price.
