China needs enormous energy supplies to offset the rapid growth of their industrial sector. This opens up greater opportunities for Indonesian coal business players to increase export volume to China. For that purpose, Indonesia attended the 17th China Coal and Mining Expo (CCME) on October 25-28, 2017 in Beijing. In this event PT Borneo Pacific Global (BPG) gained the confidence to represent Indonesia for the first time in the largest coal expo in the country.

CCME is the largest coal mining exhibition in China with a worldwide recognized reputation held every two years. This year, CCME took the theme, “Intelligent Manufacturing, Leading the Future” and was followed nearly by 400 companies from 18 countries, including the United States, Russia, and Germany.

“BPG is trying to make industrial consumers, power companies and investors in the mining and energy sectors of China better understand the regulation and business climate of Indonesia’s mining sector,” said BPG CEO Rendy
Halim, who attended the event.

“The response of the market is very good. They look enthusiastic to understand more about coal trading in Indonesia. Through this exhibition we want to make the coal trade relationship between Indonesia and China to be better in every aspect,” said Head of Sales at BPG, David Tjie.

BPG started exporting to China in 2015 with an initial volume of hundreds of thousands of tons per year. A year later, exports to China grew 180 percent. And by the end of 2017, the cumulative growth of exports to China will reach 310 percent. This year coal exports from Indonesia to China have generated foreign exchange proceeds worth $1.68 billion, rising compared to last year’s only $1.03 billion. However, Indonesia’s position is still below Australia whose export value this year has reached $6.51 billion.

“The quality of our coal is number one in China and therefore [we] should utilize events like CCME,” said Trade Attaché at Embassy of Indonesia in Beijing, Dandy Satria Iswara.

According to Dandy, Indonesia’s coal sulfur content is better than the main competitors from Australia. China which also produces coal with high sulfur content, causing pollution, is in desperate need of coal from Indonesia as a mixture in moving a number of electric generators.

But for light coal, in the past year, Indonesia has become the number one exporter with 87.48 percent. Russia and Mongolia continue to stalk Indonesia’s position after North Korea is sanctioned by a ban on exports due to nuclear weapons testing.