Indonesia orders miners to provide more coal amid blackouts

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s energy ministry directed miners to urgently boost domestic coal supplies just before the country was hit by rolling blackouts, the latest strain on President Prabowo Subianto’s administration following a week of protests.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry told miners to supply an additional 2.7 million tonnes of coal to power plants in June, according to a letter dated June 12 seen by Bloomberg News.

It cited a ministerial decree allowing the government to force producers to prioritise domestic sales if local needs are not met.

The extra demand amounts to about 2 per cent of the total coal contracted so far in 2026 by state power firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

The Energy Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rolling blackouts last week across Java – Indonesia’s most populous island – are the latest setback for Prabowo, whose administration has been rocked by protests, corruption scandals and the economic fallout from the US-Iran war.

The former general has unnerved investors with his fiscal expansion and policy making, leading to a sharp decline in the local currency.

Indonesia, the world’s top exporter of thermal coal, sharply cut its production in 2026 by tightening government-issued mining quotas in an effort to boost prices. Power blackouts have triggered scrutiny over that policy.

Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, though, said in a June 21 statement that the power outages were caused by technical issues rather than a shortage of coal.

Darmawan Prasodjo, president of PLN, said the power disruptions were caused by problems at two large power plants on Java.

Indonesian miners are required to sell a proportion of their coal to domestic consumers, including power plants, each year, usually at below-market prices. Their obligations are often set at the start of the year. BLOOMBERG