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View all search resultsEl Niño-driven river levels drop hampers coal barging from Kalimantan
Commodity price intelligence provider Argus in August revealed that parts of the upper reaches of the Barito River have become completely unnavigable, with some mining companies in the area already declaring force majeure on shipments.
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A coal barge sails the western Java Sea on Oct. 31, 2023, as it heads to a coal terminal near the Suralaya coal-fired power plant in Cilegon, Banten. (AFP/Ronald Siagian)
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usinesses are growing wary of shrinking river water levels in Kalimantan, which have disrupted coal shipments amid prolonged dry weather exacerbated by El Niño.
Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) executive director Gita Maharyani said that droughts and lower water levels had affected coal barging activities in some regions of Kalimantan.
“In several river basins, falling water levels can limit barge draft, leaving barges unable to operate at maximum capacity,” she said, as reported by CNBC Indonesia on Monday.
Gita added that this condition could potentially increase stockpiles at mining sites and ports. However, the association believed that coal price fluctuations would still be influenced by multiple factors, particularly supply and demand dynamics in the global market.
“Logistics conditions in Indonesia may be one of the factors influencing market sentiment, but they are not the sole factor driving price increases,” Gita noted.
Read also: Coal price gap triggers power crisis in Indonesia
The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has estimated that the shrinking water, specifically in the Barito River in Central Kalimantan, could disrupt around 3.9 million tonnes of coal barging operations in a month.
