T

he government has temporarily suspended the licenses of 62 mineral and coal transportation companies as part of its efforts to curb illegal mining activities.

The transportation companies were given 30 days to report the source of their products and to where they were destined. Otherwise, the licenses will fully be revoked.

The 62 companies were some of the 78 firms that had been given third warning letters for their failure to report their activities. Some 136 other companies were issued first and second warning letters.

'€œI'€™m worried that the goods are from illegal mining, which is why they are not wanting to report [their activities] to us. We have set a 30-day deadline for the reports or we will revoke their licenses,'€ said Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for mineral and coal Sukhyar.

There are currently around 750 mineral and coal transportation license holders.

The output of many ores have declined after the ban on the export of unprocessed minerals, which started on Jan. 12.

Meanwhile, according to figures from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry'€™s mineral and coal directorate, coal production reached 110 million tons in the first three months of the year, increasing roughly 4.5 percent compared to 105 million tons in the same period last year.

The ministry is expecting flat growth of coal output this year at 421 million tons, similar to last year'€™s growth. However, industry players are predicting that the output will be higher due to growing demand, including from Japan, which recently shut down its nuclear power plants.

Moreover, illegal coal mining activities will continue to flood the global market, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association, Herman Kasih, has said.

Based on the association'€™s study, illegal mining activities stole 56 million tons of coals in 2012, contributing to a prolonged oversupply in the global market.

As part of attempts to minimize illegal coal activities, Sukhyar said late last month that his office mulled limiting coal trading to 14 dedicated ports in Sumatra and Kalimantan, where most coal mining takes place.

Meanwhile, coal association chairman Bob Kamandanu, late last week agreed that the plan to establish dedicated terminals for coal trading would be a good idea.

'€œHowever, the terminals cannot be too far from the mining areas, as that would make it uneconomic,'€ Bob said.

He added that the terminals would have to accommodate around 40 million tons and be complete with supporting facilities, such as customs offices, so that companies would be willing to use them.