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Coal consumers allege slippage in Indonesian coal grades

November 28: Much in line with the grade slippage found in domestic coals, imported coal, especially the cargo coming in from Indonesia, is also facing quality issues, industry sources told ICMW.

"Although the discrepancy between the declared and received qualities is not as significant as found in domestic coal, grade slippage has become very common even in the coal imported from Indonesia," an industry source said, requesting anonymity.

"This problem has been there for some time now, but is becoming increasingly common nowadays. This is widely known to the coal imports circle," the source said. The average grade slippage for thermal coal imported from Indonesia could be around 200-400 kcal/kg, he said.

Also, in some cases, such coals carry extra moisture which is allowed by the importers to match the quantity sought for by the end-consumers.

"The ultimate sufferers are the small and medium enterprises who have to pay higher rates for lower grade coals," the source said.