Government: "Indonesia's Coal Export Ban Has Limited Short-Term Impact"

Q1 Announcement of Domestic Stockpiling Enhancement Plan for Key Items

Lee Eok-won, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, presides over and speaks at the 6th meeting of the Economic Security Core Items Task Force (TF) at the Government Seoul Office on the 7th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government assessed on the 7th that the recent coal export ban imposed by Indonesia will not have a significant immediate impact.

Lee Eokwon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, held a meeting of the Economic Security Core Items Task Force (TF) at the Government Seoul Office and stated, "Considering the already secured coal stockpiles and import volumes from other countries, the short-term impact of Indonesia's measures is limited."

Vice Minister Lee explained, "Among the coal shipments scheduled to arrive from Indonesia, 55% have already departed and are expected to enter the country normally," adding, "Last year, the average annual import shares were 49% from Australia, 20% from Indonesia, and 11% from Russia, respectively."

He added, "However, since this measure occurred in January, when electricity demand is highest, we will continuously monitor domestic and international trends and respond accordingly to prepare for possible price increases due to delays in export resumption."

Indonesia implemented a measure to supply all coal to its domestic power plants and banned exports for the entire month of January.

Regarding the rise in European natural gas prices, Vice Minister Lee analyzed, "South Korea procures more than 80% of its natural gas through medium- to long-term contracts, so there is no concern about supply disruptions."

He also stated, "We will continue to support domestic export companies to resolve logistics difficulties this year," adding, "We will deploy seven temporary vessels within this month, maintaining at least four temporary vessels monthly, and will consider additional deployments depending on future logistics conditions."

The government plans to announce a plan to strengthen domestic stockpiling of core items directly related to economic security within the first quarter of this year.

Additionally, the stockpile of rare metals will be expanded from the current 57 days to 100 days, and for items with concerns about supply instability, the stockpile will be increased up to 180 days.

The scope of stockpiling will also be expanded from mainly metals to items closely related to citizens' daily lives, and improvement measures such as introducing private facility stockpiling depending on the item will be reviewed.

Meanwhile, as a result of operating the Early Warning System (EWS) for core items, the government stated that among the approximately 4,000 target items, no items were identified that currently pose supply instability requiring immediate response.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.