{"id":83917,"date":"2022-07-20T15:55:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T15:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadialogue.net\/?p=83917"},"modified":"2022-09-05T03:08:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T03:08:33","slug":"chinas-move-to-increase-coal-supplies-wont-affect-decarbonisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/chinas-move-to-increase-coal-supplies-wont-affect-decarbonisation\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s move to increase coal supplies won\u2019t affect decarbonisation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It has been a tough year for international coal markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 1 January, Indonesia banned exports<\/a> to protect supplies for its power stations. The month-long measure by the world\u2019s largest coal exporter injected volatility into the international coal market, but the war in Ukraine really set prices rocketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data<\/a> from the website Markets Insider shows that coal cost US$190.65 a tonne the day before Russia invaded Ukraine and more than doubled to $439 in the following weeks. It then fell to $395 on 13 July \u2013 still 107% higher than before the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Western-led sanctions on Russia are a factor in the price increase, causing several countries to look elsewhere for supplies and worsening shortages on international markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did this mean for China, the world\u2019s biggest producer, consumer and importer of coal? And how will the energy security concerns arising from tight global coal supplies affect the country\u2019s progress towards its \u201cdual carbon targets\u201d of peaking emissions before 2030 and reaching neutrality before 2060?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A global coal rush<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the data analysis website Statista<\/a>, Russia is the world\u2019s third largest coal exporter, accounting for 18% of exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of its biggest customers is the EU. Russia accounted for 46% of the bloc\u2019s consumed coal in 2021, 40% of its natural gas and 27% of its oil, according to the European Commission<\/a>. On 8 April, the EU announced a fifth round<\/a> of sanctions targeting Russia, including a ban on coal imports that will come into effect in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days earlier, the UK committed to end reliance on Russian coal and oil by the end of the year and stop natural gas imports as soon as possible. Also, on 8 April, Japan\u2019s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said the country would gradually reduce coal imports from Russia and was looking to replace them with supplies from elsewhere, quickly. Japan is Russia\u2019s second-largest coal buyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coal importers were forced to turn to other countries, such as South Africa, the world\u2019s fifth-largest exporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to Reuters<\/a>, Europe-bound coal shipments from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal in eastern South Africa were 40% higher in the first five months of 2022 than in the whole of 2021. Many countries buying that coal, including Spain, Poland and Germany, only started importing from Richards Bay after the war started. In the first five months of this year, these countries imported 355,000 tonnes, 182,000 tonnes and 157,000 tonnes, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France had imported seven times as much coal from Richards Bay by May than in 2021. Japan, one of Russia\u2019s neighbours, also increased imports. So far this year, Japan has imported 388,000 tonnes of coal from Richards Bay, almost twice as much as in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US and Colombia, both traditional coal suppliers to the EU, have also increased European exports. Business intelligence firm CRU predicts<\/a> that the US will export an extra 9 million tonnes of coal this year, the most since 2018, and Colombia will export an additional 14 million tonnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China increases coal production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While many countries have rushed to import more, China has seen its coal imports fall in the past several months. Recent data<\/a> from the National Bureau of Statistics show total coal imports<\/a> of 115 million tonnes for the first half of 2022, a 17.5% fall year-on-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n