Jakarta, March 19 -- Deputy Minister of Investment and Downstream Todotua Pasaribu is targeting downstreaming coal into methanol to support the government's biofuel program.

"There are several national corporations that are developing methanol products from coal," Pasaribu stated at the Mining Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday (March 18).

Highlighting the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources' mandatory 35 percent biofuel (B35) program, Pasaribu explained that this program necessitates importing 1.8 million tons of methanol due to insufficient local production.

The deputy minister stated that since January, the program has progressed to the mandatory B40 level, which increases methanol import requirements to between 2.3 and 2.5 million to...