Coal Market & Transportation

Coal is a global industry, with coal mined commercially in over 50 countries and used in over 70. Coal is readily available from a wide variety of sources in a well-supplied worldwide market. Coal can be transported to demand centres quickly, safely and easily by ship and rail. A large number of suppliers are active in the international coal market, ensuring a competitive and efficient market.

Coal Transportation

The way that coal is transported to where it will be used depends on the distance to be covered. Coal is generally transported by conveyor or truck over short distances. Trains and barges are used for longer distances within domestic markets, or alternatively coal can be mixed with water to form a coal slurry and transported through a pipeline.
Ships are commonly used for international transportation, in sizes ranging from:

• Handysize - 40-45,000 DWT
• Panamax - about 60-80,000 DWT
• Capesize vessels - about 80,000 DWT

(For a glossary of useful terms used in the shipping industry, click here)

Coal Trade

Coal is traded all over the world, with coal shipped huge distances by sea to reach markets.
Over the last twenty years:

• seaborne trade in steam coal has increased on average by about 7% each year
• seaborne coking coal trade has increased by 1.6% a year.

Overall international trade in coal reached 941Mt in 2009; while this is a significant amount of coal it still only accounts for about 16% of total coal consumed. Most coal is used in the country in which it is produced.
Transportation costs account for a large share of the total delivered price of coal, therefore international trade in steam coal is effectively divided into two regional markets

• the Atlantic market, made up of importing countries in Western Europe, notably the UK, Germany and Spain.
• the Pacific market, which consists of developing and OECD Asian importers, notably Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei. The Pacific market currently accounts for about 57% of world seaborne steam coal trade.

Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter. It exported over 259Mt of hard coal in 2009, out of its total production of 335Mt. International coking coal trade is limited. Australia is also the largest supplier of coking coal, accounting for 54% of world exports. The USA and Canada are significant exporters and Indonesia is emerging as an important supplier.

Top Coal Exporters (2009e)
	Total of which	Steam	Coking
Australia	259Mt	134Mt	125Mt
Indonesia	230Mt	200Mt	30Mt
Russia	116Mt	105Mt	11Mt
Colombia	69Mt	69Mt	-
South Africa	67Mt	66Mt	1Mt
USA	53Mt	20Mt	33Mt
Canada	28Mt	7Mt	21Mt
Top Coal Importers (2009e)
	Total of which	Steam	Coking
Japan	165Mt	113Mt	52Mt
PR China	137Mt	102Mt	35Mt
South Korea	103Mt	82Mt	21Mt
India	67Mt	44Mt	23Mt
Chinese Tapei	60Mt	57Mt	3Mt
Germany	38Mt	32Mt	6Mt
UK	38Mt	33Mt	5Mt