Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set its February thermal coal reference price, also known as Harga Batubara Acuan or HBA, at $83.32/mt, down 3.4% from January but up about 64% from a year ago.
The ministry had set the February 2016 HBA price at $50.92/mt, the lowest recorded since the HBA's inception in January 2009. The January 2017 HBA was set at $86.23/mt.
The HBA is a monthly average price based 25% on the Platts Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR assessment; 25% on the Argus-Indonesia Coal Index 1 (6,500 kcal/kg GAR); 25% on the Newcastle Export Index -- formerly the Barlow-Jonker index (6,322 kcal/kg GAR) of Energy Publishing -- and 25% on the globalCOAL Newcastle (6,000 kcal/kg NAR) index.
In January, the daily Platts FOB Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR coal assessment averaged $72.11/mt, down from $75.94/mt in December, while the daily 90-day Platts Newcastle FOB price for coal with a calorific value of 6,300 kcal/kg GAR averaged $83.73/mt, down from $86.31/mt in December.
The HBA price for thermal coal is the basis for determining the prices of 75 Indonesian coal products and calculating the royalty producers have to pay for each metric ton of coal they sell.
It is based on 6,322 kcal/kg GAR coal, with 8% total moisture content, 15% ash as received and 0.8% sulfur as received.
