Another panamax bulker looks set to enter the domestic Indonesian coal trade as brokers report that as-yet-undisclosed interests have purchased a vessel from Reederei Roth of Germany.

The 72,900-dwt Monte Pelmo (built 2000) has reportedly been sold for $8m.

Reederei Roth managing director Thorsten Meier confirmed to TradeWinds that the vessel had been sold but offered no hints as to the identity of the buyer.

The ship is due for dry-docking this month, which Meier said would be the responsibility of its new owner.

The Monte Pelmo sold for substantially more than the market value of $7.4m estimated by VesselsValue. An above-market price is common for vessel sales into Indonesia, as the deals often require ships to sit on subjects for an extended period as buyers await confirmation of a charter deal or contract of affreightment.

In the case of Indonesian panamax purchases, the vessels are almost always acquired against contracts with utility companies to carry coal from mines in Kalimantan province in Borneo to power stations scattered throughout the vast Indonesian archipelago.

Few Indonesian-flag panamax bulkers trade beyond the country’s territorial waters. Domestic bulk players are being kept busy carrying the growing volumes of coal needed to fuel the many power stations coming online. This has also prompted strong interest for panamaxes from a wide variety of Indonesian owners.

Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry predicts that domestic coal consumption will increase by 16% this year to 109 million tonnes. The country produced a total of 479 million tonnes in 2017.

According to a Platts report this week, growing domestic demand for coal, combined with the absence of major new coal mines, is resulting in Indonesia reducing exports.

A controversial law that requires Indonesian coal exports to be sold on a cost, insurance, freight (CIF) basis, through Indonesian shipping companies, was due to come into effect at the end of April.

The law was designed to improve Indonesia’s presence in the international dry bulk markets and was expected to greatly increase the size of its dry bulk fleet.

Last week, the Indonesian government back-tracked on this law, postponing its implementation for a one-year period after numerous stakeholders in the country’s coal export market made it clear that Indonesian shipping companies had neither the skills nor the ships to handle the country’s coal exports.