Indonesia sets Feb HBA thermal coal price 16% higher on month amid China demand

Singapore — Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set its February thermal coal reference price -- also known as Harga Batubara Acuan, or HBA -- at $87.79/mt, up 16% on month and up 33% on year, a ministry spokesman said Feb 8.

Strong Chinese demand and higher gas prices led to a boost in thermal coal prices in January as buyers scrambled to stock up before the Lunar New year holidays.

"China's domestic coal supply could not meet the demand from power plants," said Agung Pribadi, spokesman for Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

The ministry had set the price for January at $75.84/mt, and for February 2020 at $66.89/mt.

The HBA is a monthly average price based 25% each on Platts Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR assessments, Argus-Indonesia Coal Index 1 (6,500 kcal/kg GAR), Newcastle Export Index (6,322 kcal/kg GAR) and globalCOAL Newcastle (6,000 kcal/kg NAR).

In January, the daily FOB Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR coal assessment averaged $88.82/mt, up 28.7% from $69/mt in December, S&P Global Platts data showed.

The HBA price for thermal coal is the basis for determining the prices of 77 Indonesian coal products and calculating the amount of royalty producers have to pay for each metric ton of coal sold. It is based on 6,322 kcal/kg GAR coal with 8% total moisture content, 15% ash as received and 0.8% sulfur as received.