Jakarta, Dec 21 (IANS): Indonesia has targeted to raise its coal production to 694 million ton to fulfill domestic supply and export demands, the country's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced.

"As we know that in 2022, we targeted to produce 663 million ton, and up to now the production has reached 94.6 per cent, or around 627 million ton. Next year our domestic needs are increasing, mostly for electricity," the Director for Development of Coal Business of the Ministry's Directorate General of Minerals and Coal, Lana Saria, said in a virtual seminar on Tuesday.

According to the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), Indonesia indeed needs to produce more coal next year as demands from China and India will also increase.

She said that Indonesia would continue to receive high coal demands from European countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

In 2022, the coal export to Europe has significantly increased, reaching 4 million to 5 million ton, the largest coal export to Europe in history, while in previous years it only reached 500,000 ton, according to APBI.