Some Indonesia coal traders declare force majeure on rule change-assoc

JAKARTA Feb 1,2011
(Reuters) Some Indonesian coal traders have declared force majeure after a trade rule change, with around 60-70 vessels stuck in various ports and 3.5 million tonnes unable to be shipped, the chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association said on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear which trading companies and which buyers were affected, Bob Kamandanu told reporters, after a new trade regulation caused the delays in the world's top thermal coal exporter.
The problems have come after the trade ministry ordered surveyors in January to temporarily halt issuing surveyor reports to traders who are in the process of reapplying for trading permits under a new coal and mining law system. The surveyor reports are documents required for shipping the fuel.
The rule appeared to affect traders who do not own mines and buy blended coal, or aggregate coal, from various small miners, as well as traders who buy coal in barges. It was not clear which firms had declared force majeure.

"The vessels have been stuck in various coal ports around the country. Stockpiles have been building up because the coal can't be loaded to vessels," Bob Kamandanu said.
Most of the vessels were shipping the coal to buyers in India and China, he said.
Indonesia has required exports of mining products including coal and tin to be checked by surveyors before shipping them out as the country seeks to keep illegal mining in check and boost revenue from the sector.

"They have submitted requests for processing permits to the energy and mines ministry since three months ago but with no response," Kamandanu told reporters.
Surveyor reports show the origin of the cargoes and are used to calculate royalties.
The trade rule so far has not affected shipments from coal firms such as top producers Bumi Resources and Adaro Energy , as surveyors are still allowed to issue reports for coal exports from producers.
But it could affect the country's production if the delays run for a longer period, said Kamandanu.
The delays come as Indian traders and end-users are close to resuming prompt buying on thermal coal after a break of several months, some of India's largest traders said last week.
Australia's thermal coal prices on the globalCOAL weekly index, a benchmark for Asia, closed at $127 per tonne for the week to date on Monday, up from $124.25 a week earlier.(Reporting by Alfian; Writing by by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Neil Chatterjee, sourced: reuters)