Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set its December thermal coal reference price, also known as Harga Batubara Acuan or HBA, at $94.04/mt, falling 7.5% year on year and down about 0.8% from November.
The ministry had set the price for November at $94.80/mt and for December 2016 at $101.69/mt, the highest level seen since May 2012.
The HBA is a monthly average price based 25% each on Platts Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR assessment, Argus-Indonesia Coal Index 1 (6,500 kcal/kg GAR); Newcastle Export Index (6,322 kcal/kg GAR) and globalCOAL Newcastle (6,000 kcal/kg NAR).
In November, the daily Platts FOB Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR coal assessment averaged $82.17/mt, down from $83.12/mt in October, while the daily 90-day Platts Newcastle FOB price for coal with a calorific value of 6,300 kcal/kg GAR averaged $96.63/mt, down from $97.14/mt in October.
The HBA price for thermal coal is the basis for determining the prices of 77 Indonesian coal products and calculating the royalty producers have to pay for each metric ton of coal sold.
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.
