Poor Coal Service Gives Indonesia Bad Rep

Poland filed a complaint against Indonesia because the coal they received did not meet the specifications and quality they ordered. The Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) executive director Hendra Sinadia admitted that the Polish Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia and representatives of its state-owned company managing coal-fired power plants (PLTU) had come to file a complaint. "This bad supply, deviating from what was agreed upon, has resulted in a negative sentiment for Indonesian coal exporters," Hendra told CNBC Indonesia on Monday. The bad supply in question, in fact, was Poland's first coal import from Indonesia, which reached around 50 thousand-70 thousand tons.

The Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry Arifin Tasrif said that such an incident could be minimized, especially if the Poland sides coordinated with the Indonesian government first before importing coal. "[The shipment process to Poland] should be guarded from the beginning when the goods were about to be shipped, what kind of goods. When the order arrives, there should also be someone who follows so that they can verify it correctly," he said.