JAKARTA: Indonesia has postponed the implementation of a regulation that would require coal exporters to use national maritime carriers and domestic insurance services, amid concerns about the impact on international trade, sources said this week.
The government has given its trade ministry up to a year to revise the policy, the sources said. “I think it is right for the government to postpone [this regulation] and try to come up with a better solution,” a major Indonesian coal miner said.
The government, coal exporters and shipping companies are to gather for more meetings to discuss the regulation, which applies to coal and crude palm oil exporters. The government was not available for comment.
“This regulation is still not ready. It is too general. There are no detailed guidelines or instructions,” a second major Indonesian coal producer said.
A third miner said the proposed regulation could jeopardize Indonesia’s coal export trade if pushed through, supposedly at the end of April. The delay has provided Indonesian thermal coal buyers and sellers with some relief as it may help avert a “big mess,” one source said.
Ambiguities in the wording of the regulation, such as possible limits on exporters’ choice of shipping, have been worrying market participants.
Buyers and sellers have raised concerns that the regulation limits them to Indonesian flag-carrying vessels, as the regulation says exporters “shall use sea transport which is controlled by Indonesian sea carriage company for their transportation activities.”
