Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif has set a reference coal price (HBA) this month through Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 84.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2023 concerning Reference Metal Mineral Prices and Reference Coal Prices for May 2023. In the regulation, HBA in terms of calorific value of 6,322 kcal per kilogram (kg) GAR, 12.58 percent total moisture, 0.71 percent total sulfur and 7.58 percent ash is set at US$206.16 per tonne . "This price is used as a reference for the HBA during May in increasing royalty rates and for calculating the Coal Benchmark Price (HPB) calories greater than 6,000," said the Head of the Bureau of Communication, Public Information Services, and Cooperation (KLIK) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Agung Pribadi, as quoted from a press release, Monday (15/5/2023). The high calorie HBA, said Agung, is intended for the provision of electricity for public purposes, meeting the needs of raw materials or fuel for domestic industries in addition to industrial processing and refining of metal minerals.
Furthermore, HBA in equivalent calorific value is 5,200 kcal per kg GAR, total moisture is 23.12 percent, total sulfur is 0.69 percent and ash is 6 percent. Determination that is categorized as HBA I is used as a reference HBA in the calculation of 5,200-6,000 calorie HPB. "HBA I was set at US$119.64 per tonne," said Agung. Finally, HBA in terms of calorific value of 4,200 kcal per kg GAR, total moisture of 35.29 percent, total sulfur of 0.2 percent and ash of 4.21 percent yielded a figure of US$82.23 per tonne. "HBA II is used as a reference HBA in calculating HPB calories less than or equal to 5,200," he said. Previously, he said, the formula for determining the HBA in principle aimed to obtain a reference price that could be accepted by the market taking into account state revenue. "This consideration is the basis for the need to issue regulations related to prices based on market mechanisms," he said. As is known, the HBA is formed from the average realized selling price of coal in the previous two months, with a proportion of 70 percent of the realized price in the previous month. In addition, the formation of the HBA was taken from 30 percent of the realized price two months earlier based on data on the realization of coal sales submitted by the mining business entity at the time of fulfilling the obligation to pay coal royalties.
