Coal exports from Russia in September increased by 5.4% compared to the same month in 2019, to 17.5 million tons, according to the Central Dispatch Office of the Fuel and Energy Complex. Supplies abroad have been growing since the middle of this year due to increased demand for Russian coal in the Asia-Pacific region (APR).
The main increase in export shipments in September was provided by the supply of thermal coal, the volume of which increased by 8.9% to 15.8 million tons.
Asian countries are becoming an increasingly promising market for Russian coal. Shipments of products from Russian coal mining companies to the ports of the Far East in September increased by about 18% compared to the same month last year, to almost 8 million tons, according to rail freight forwarders. Coal purchases in Asia are increased by consumers from China, Vietnam, Japan.
The high growth rates of shipments through the ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin remain, the volume of which increased by 27% in September, to 1.7 million tons. Almost half of this volume was exported through the new dry cargo port in Taman. Russian suppliers export coal through this terminal to countries in the Mediterranean region such as Turkey, Israel, Spain, Italy, as well as Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
Exports of Russian coal through the ports of the North-West in September decreased by 11.5%, to 4.9 million tons, mainly due to a reduction in supplies through the ports of Latvia. At the same time, shipments to Russian terminals in the northwestern regions increased by 7.7% to 4.7 million tons, thanks to an increase in transshipment volumes through the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad Region. Exports through Murmansk, which fell sharply in the summer due to the collapse of a railway bridge on the Vykhodnoy-Kola stretch, are recovering after a new bridge was built in early autumn. However, in September, export shipments of coal to Murmansk were still 3.2% lower than a year earlier, amounting to less than 1.1 million tons.
In general, in January-September, the export of Russian coal decreased by 1.3%, to 144.5 million tons, according to the Central Dispatch Office of the Fuel and Energy Complex.
