Severe Weather Impacts Indonesian Coal Operations
Severe low river levels, raging forest fires, and aggressive land clearing in the palm oil sector across Kalimantan and Sumatra are slowing some Indonesian coal mining operations, potentially threatening export activity in the remainder of the year.
Central Kalimantan stands at the epicenter of the crisis, where an unrelenting El Niño-driven dry season has scorched vast forested areas. Hazardous haze and limited visibility are now forcing sudden halts at certain mining concessions.
Similar critical conditions are spreading across South and West Kalimantan, as well as Sumatra’s primary producing provinces of Riau, Jambi, and South Sumatra, where drought and plantation clearing continue to compound operational strain.
One South Kalimantan miner said that production capacity has been erratic in the past week due to low visibility that has forced intermittent pauses in mining activity.
“We expect this to reduce our capacity by about 10%,” the low c.v. miner said.
Several low and ultra low-rank producers in the same region are also impacted.
Another source from a major East Kalimantan miner said that they were monitoring visibility levels and would be forced to suspend operations if conditions worsened.
Visibility conditions worsened this morning at a mine site in South Kalimantan.
Simultaneously, severe water depletion across key river arteries in Kalimantan and Sumatra has brought coal barging networks to a virtual standstill.
Plummeting river depths in Central Kalimantan have paralysed deliveries from the region, shipping sources told Dow Jones Energy.
Miners situated upstream along the vital Barito River corridor are bearing the brunt of the freeze, while some operations upstream of East Kalimantan’s Mahakam River are also beginning to stall.
“Critically shallow waters along the upper Barito and Kapuas Rivers have made it difficult to navigate barges safely,” said Mukhlisin Azin, a senior Indonesian shipping analyst.
“Last year around September-November, river levels had recovered from the dry season. It is down significantly this year. We are well into October and I don’t see how affected miners will be able to load cargoes for November,” one shipping agent shared.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) forecasts that extreme drought linked to El Niño will persist through the year-end.
Forecasts through mid-November indicate precipitation across core Kalimantan mining regions will remain under 50 mm per 10-day period—far below seasonal norms.
While downstream producers have managed to maintain short-term loading, mounting vessel bottlenecks upstream threaten a broader supply squeeze across coastal export terminals.
“The challenge lies in barge supply since many are stuck upstream,” another shipping source said.