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New UserChaos at Indonesian ports disrupts coal shipping
09 Feb 2017
Road blockages and bad weather in Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of Borneo island are being blamed for a disruption of coal supplies from one of the world's most important export regions.
Coal traders and ship operators cited several reasons for the loading delays.
According to domestic online media suarakalimantan.com, citing statements from local authorities, coal hauling roads were closed by the South Kalimantan government in three locations, leaving "thousands" unable to work.
"They don't have access to roads," Pandu Sjahrir, chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association told Reuters on Wednesday, referring to stoppages by local authorities.
Local authorities and port operators were not available for comment. A spokesman for Indonesia's transportation ministry, which oversees ports was unable to comment.
Reuters reported the delays have affected coal ports near Samarinda in the province of East Kalimantan and Taboneo, near the capital of South Kalimantan, Banjarmasin.
"The area most affected is getting coal down the Barito River to coastal ports like Taboneo," said one coal barge shipper from Kalimantan, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon and port loading schedules seen by Reuters show over 130 ships are currently offshore Kalimantan waiting to take on coal, some since late December.
The previous week, that figure stood at 108, the data showed. Indonesia's Kalimantan provinces make up one of the world's biggest thermal coal mining regions.
"Local authorities are delaying shipping and export licenses, and that is what is causing delays," said a marine logistics executive in Jakarta, also on the condition of anonymity.
Source:Reuters