JAKARTA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has set the country's coal reference price known as coal benchmark price (HBA) at 65.79 U.S. dollars per metric ton for September, spokesman of the ministry Agung Pribadi said on Monday.
The HBA dropped down from 72.67 U.S. dollar per metric ton for August, the spokesman said.
Global economic uncertainty amid weakening demand from Europe has eroded exports of one of Indonesia's major exported products, Agung said.
From January to September, the spokesman said, the average of Indonesia's coal reference price touched 81.92 U.S. dollars per metric ton, media reported.
The Indonesian reference price for thermal coal is the basis for setting up the prices of the country's 77 coal products and gauging the royalty producers have to pay for each metric ton of coal sold.
The Southeast Asia's biggest economy is the world's largest exporter and producer of thermal coal. Indonesia's coal reserve is estimated at 26.2 billion tons, according to the ministry.
