Indonesia, a major global thermal coal producer, exported 175.15 million tonnes of coal in January to May and exports for the full year are expected to be 435 million tonnes, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The country exported 458.8 million tonnes of coal in 2019, data from Indonesia Coal Miners Association showed.
The coronavirus crisis "significantly impacted" global coal markets, including Indonesia, Pandu Sjahrir, chairman of APBI, said in an industry webinar Coaltrans.
He said 2020 global seaborne demand, which was estimated at 980 million tonnes before the crisis, had now been revised down to 895 million tonnes.
Shipments from Indonesia had been hit by the lockdown in China this year and ongoing coronavirus restrictions in India and the Philippines, he said.
"Indonesian thermal coal has been majorly impacted given around 65 per cent of Indonesia thermal coal exports are to those three countries," Sjahrir said, adding he did not expect global demand for coal to recover to the 2019 level until 2022.
Agung Pribadi, spokesman of the energy ministry, said in the ministry statement that Indonesia was in discussion to increase exports to new markets such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Indonesia produced 228 million tonnes of coal up to May, or about 42 per cent of its full-year output target of 550 million tonnes, the statement said.
