Indonesian coal deal fuels doubts over production quota approvals

A major coal deal in Indonesia is set to secure a powerful new partner for one of the country’s biggest miners, even as the industry worries a delay in the government’s approval of production quotas could have a severe impact on the business outlook.

Low Tuck Kwong and his daughter Elaine Low, the biggest shareholders of Bayan Resources, agreed on September 16 to sell a 30 per cent stake in Indonesia’s third-largest coal producer to fellow tycoon Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, better known as Haji Isam.

The deal comes at a sensitive moment for Bayan after the government delayed approval of additional coal quotas for three of its subsidiaries. The uncertainty sent Bayan’s shares sharply lower in the days before the deal announcement. It rose by about 20 per cent as soon as news broke about the stake deal, hitting the upper auto-reject limit.

The timing has fuelled speculation that the quota hurdle might be linked to the deal, a suggestion that the government has rejected.