Indonesia's Coal Exports Sink 23% as Global Demand Heads for a Record

AI Summary

Indonesia's thermal coal exports have fallen 23% despite tightening global coal markets, as production quotas and policy uncertainty constrain supply. Asian demand is rising as buyers switch from gas amid Middle East disruptions to LNG supply.

The world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal, Indonesia, is not benefiting from tightening global coal markets amid an Asian switch to coal from gas due to the Middle East crisis choking LNG supply. Indonesian thermal coal exports have been crimped this year by government production quotas and heightened uncertainties about Indonesia’s policy in the coal mining and exporting sectors. Earlier this year, the government slashed quotas for coal miners. In the middle of the year, authorities revised up some of the quotas, but uncertainties…