Indonesia a haven for illegal coal miners

JAKARTA: Indonesia may be the world’s top exporter of thermal coal, but that masks an embarrassing fact for a government scrambling to raise revenue – more than US$5bil worth of the fuel is mined illegally and goes untaxed each year.

Export and consumption data shows Indonesia produces around 12%-15% more coal annually than the ministry of energy and mineral resources reports. That’s enough to supply Taiwan, the world’s fifth-largest coal importer, for a year.