South Korea requested Indonesia to lift the coal export ban through its trade minister on concerns of the risk of energy shortage, making it the second country after Japan to protest against Indonesia over the coal policy, CNBC Indonesia reported.
The trade minister Yeo Han-koo immediately held an online meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Muhammad Lutfi to convey the request.
"Trade Minister Yeo conveyed the Korean Government's concerns regarding the policy of banning Indonesia's coal exports and requested very strongly the cooperation of the Indonesian Government so that coal shipments (exports) could be resumed immediately," said an official statement from the South Korean Ministry of Trade, CNBC Indonesia quoted Yonhap News Agency as saying on January 7.
South Korea is the fourth largest destination of Indonesia's coal exports, after China, India and Japan.
Indonesia exported 20.35 million tonnes of coal to South Korea in 2021, down from 24.08 million tonnes from a year ago, according to Kpler data showed. Exports of thermal coal, mainly used for power generation, were 20.23 million tonnes last year, accounting for 99.4% of total.
On January 5, Japan sent a letter through its embassy to the Indonesia government asking for resuming exports of high-CV cargoes, which is not normally used at power plants in Indonesia. "The sudden export ban has seriously affected economic activity in Japan and people's daily lives," the letter said recently.
Coal exports to Japan in 2020 totaled 24.14 million tonnes, Kpler data showed, but the volume declined notably to 19.89 million tonnes in 2021, in which 98.6% were thermal coal.
Responding to the two country's requests, Luhut Binsar, Indonesia's coordinating minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, promised all problems would be resolved properly. Previously, he claimed the emergency condition of power supply due to the shortage of coal had ended.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Tammy Yang)
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