Indonesia sets May HBA thermal coal price at $89.74/mt, up 3.5% on month

Gurgaon — Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set its May thermal coal reference price -- also known as Harga Batubara Acuan or HBA -- at $89.74/mt, up 3.5% on the month and a jump of 46.8% on the year, according to a ministry spokesman May 5.

The ministry had set the HBA for April at $86.68/mt and May 2020 at $61.11/mt.

Chinese demand for Indonesian thermal coal has been strong and the recent move by the Chinese government to ease import restrictions has bode well for seaborne thermal coal prices, ministry spokesman Agung Pribadi said.

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 April, the daily FOB Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR coal assessment averaged $81.31/mt, up 12% from $72.32/mt in March, 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.