The Indonesian Filament Yarn and Fiber Producers Association (APSyFI) criticized the government's policy through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources which set a domestic market obligation (DMO) coal price of US$ 90 per tonne for domestic industries. For information, the policy is contained in the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Decree No. 58.K/HK.02/MEM.B/2022 concerning the Selling Price of Coal to Fulfill the Domestic Raw Material/Industrial Fuel Needs. APSyFI Chairperson Redma Gita Wirawasta assessed that this policy shows that the government has lost to the miners and on the other hand tends not to be pro-industry which has provided jobs for the community.

Redma also believes that the portion of DMO coal should be increased to 50% but the benchmark price is sufficient at the level of US$ 70 per ton so that the coal can be used jointly by the Indonesian people as the owners of these natural resources, not only enjoyed by a handful of miners.

Just so you know, under normal conditions, the textile and textile product (TPT) industry requires around 1 million tons of coal per month. However, currently most of the power plants belonging to the textile industry are shut down, because they do not get a supply of coal even at a price of US$ 120 per ton. "Currently our members have turned off the power plant and switched to PLN," added Redma, Tuesday (29/3).

Furthermore, in the textile industry, around 90% of coal consumption is intended for power generation, while the remaining 10% is for factory boilers. In general, the portion of energy costs is around 26% of the total cost of producing textiles.

Just for the record, coal production in Indonesia is targeted to reach 663 million tons this year. Of this amount, 166 million tons are DMO coal.