JAKARTA- Shares of big Indonesian coal companies rose on Tuesday after authorities relaxed an export ban brought in this year, even as vessels loaded with the fuel had yet to leave ports in the world’s biggest thermal coal exporter.
In the first clear step to relax the export ban, Indonesia late on Monday agreed for 14 coal vessels to depart as soon as they got permits from mining and transport authorities.
Shares of Bumi Resources gained 1.5 percent, Adaro Energy rose 1.3 percent, while Indika Energy’s shares gained 4 percent during early Tuesday trading.
However, the transport ministry had not allowed any export-bound ship with coal to leave ports as of Tuesday morning as it awaited a directive from the energy ministry, director of sea transportation MugenSuprihatinSartoto told Reuters.
There are currently 121 vessels either loading or waiting to load off Indonesian’s coal ports in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, according to Refinitiv data.
The export ban came into force on Jan. 1 after state power utility PLN reported critically low coal inventory levels, sending global coal prices higher last week and prompting calls by Japan, South Korea and the Philippines for the measure to be eased.
The ban triggered a rally in Australian and Chinese goal prices, though Chinese thermal coal futures fell more than 3 percent to 685 yuan ($107.50) at Tuesday’s opening in reaction to the relaxation.
The Indonesian government will conduct a review on Wednesday when if it decides to scrap the ban, it will do so gradually as it considers how the resumption affects compliance with so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) rules, senior minister LuhutPandjaitan said in a statement late on Monday.
