Coal news and updates

Indonesia to review coal export ban that has driven up global prices

Indonesian coal miners are due to hold talks with government officials on Wednesday on a ban on the country's coal exports that has unnerved global markets for the fuel and triggered energy security concerns in some major economies.

Indonesia, the world's top exporter of thermal coal and China's largest overseas supplier, on Saturday announced a ban on exports in January to avoid outages at domestic generators.

Miners were scheduled to meet Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi starting from 0900 a.m. (0200 GMT), an official at an Indonesian coal miners' association said.

Separately, State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir said his ministry, along with the energy ministry, will hold talks with state power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to review their coal supplies.

"We will clearly map out the condition in each coal power plant, so later on we won't find any more problems as has been directed by the president," Erick said in a statement late on Tuesday.

It was unclear if coal miners would also attend the meeting with PLN.

PLN on Tuesday said it had secured an extra 7.5 million tonnes of coal, but aimed to continue increasing stockpiles so it had at least enough supplies to last 20 days.