Coal news and updates

For a long time, the biggest coal importers, China and India, have kept the coal trade fluorishing with a steady flow of cargoes from Australia and Indonesia, mostly.

 

Steel mills and power plants in the two biggest Asian economies have been fed a steady diet of coal from these two countries, which together comprise about two thirds of the global coal trade.

 

According to the World Coal Association, in 2015 Indonesia and Australia together exported a respective 410 million tonnes (MT) and 375MT, mostly to Asia. Of the top seven coal importers in 2015, five are Asian; they are, in order, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei. Number 6 and 7 are Germany and the UK.

 

Lately, however, India's status as a major coal importer is starting to wane, and that is having a negative effect on a major supplier: Indonesia.

It's not that India is using less coal; although a mandate to use other, less polluting energy sources is also being pursued.

 

The country's push to become more self-sufficient in energy – India wants to double domestic coal production, increase renewable energy five-fold, and reform its energy distribution network – has resulted in a huge increase in domestic coal production, meaning India is not as reliant on imports. The country plans to cease thermal coal imports by 2017 with the exception of a few coastal areas, states the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

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