Coal
Overview
Global thermal coal prices surged to record levels in 2022, experiencing unprecedented volatility. Prices have since come off as risks associated with Europe’s supply recede. At a global level, coal demand remains robust with security of supply shifting higher up the agenda of many governments in light of geopolitical upheaval.
In Europe, sanctions have shifted the region’s coal import mix away from Russia and towards other suppliers. The pace of coal plant phase-outs in the region is set to increase in the years ahead, with the role of coal in the electricity mix shifting further towards peak-load usage, making forward planning more challenging.
In Asia-Pacific, thermal coal remains a pillar of the power and industrial sectors. Global coal trade flows and price spreads are shifting, with flows from key suppliers Russia, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, Colombia, and the US penetrating new markets, in response to price dynamics and trade barriers.
Keeping on top of prices and flows, and how coal markets intersect with other energy and commodity benchmarks, will be critical in the coming years.
Latest coal news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global coal industry.
Australia’s Macquarie unwinds coking coal funding ban
Australia’s Macquarie unwinds coking coal funding ban
Sydney, 13 May (Argus) — Australian investment bank Macquarie has changed its investment rules to fund coking coal mines, in a partial reversal of its 2021 coal financing ban. The bank made the change in November 2024, it said in its annual report for the year ended 31 March, released last week. It will now make short-term funding deals lasting less than 12 months for coking coal developments, to help producers buy, expand, or run coking coal mines. Macquarie's rule change still bans long-term investments in coking coal projects. There are few viable alternatives to coking coal for the steel and industrial sectors, Macquarie said. The company has maintained its ban on thermal coal financing, apart from specific emissions reduction projects. It is also working on supporting emissions reduction projects in the Australian oil and gas sectors, although it did not disclose which projects. Macquarie is not the only bank moving away from fossil fuel financing. Australian bank ANZ will stop lending capital to companies heavily involved in the thermal coal sector by 2030. It reduced its lending to thermal coal mining firms by 85pc between 2015 and July 2024,it said in July last year. It also stopped [funding new upstream oil and gas projects](https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2566501), with limited exceptions, in May 2024. Macquarie has expanded its climate finance role over recent years. The bank set up a renewable energy business to fund utility-scale projects in Australia and New Zealand in November 2023. Macquarie is also involved in carbon markets. The company is continuing to help clients with compliance and voluntary carbon markets, including in newer locations like China, the company said, without disclosing further details. It has also purchased and retired 59,164t of CO2 equivalent of Australian Carbon Credit Units and other voluntary offsets to cover business travel in its 2024-25 financial year ended 31 March. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
New Zealand’s Fonterra starts electrode boiler
New Zealand’s Fonterra starts electrode boiler
Sydney, 9 May (Argus) — New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra has turned on an electrode boiler at its Edendale plant and commissioned two more. This will help reduce CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions by 72,800 t/yr from 2027. The co-operative's three boilers will replace coal-fired systems and be powered by renewable energy generated at Edendale, it said on 7 May. Emissions reductions from the plant will account for 4pc of Fonterra's target of a 50.4pc reduction in scope 1 and scope 2 emissions relative to 2018 levels by 2030. The co-operative has committed NZ$70mn ($41.3mn) to build the Edendale boilers, with additional co-funding from New Zealand's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). Fonterra's on-farm emissions are excluded from New Zealand's emissions trading system , but its coal boilers fall under the scheme. The co-operative has been moving away from coal boilers since 2018, reducing its CO2e emissions by 200,400 t/yr through six conversions. Fonterra has converted coal boilers into wood-fired and electrode boilers in collaboration with EECA. Its 2020 Te Awamutu coal-to-biomass boiler conversion led to a 98.4pc decline in CO2e emissions, from 90,395 t/yr to 1,425 t/yr, according to an EECA study. Fonterra was looking for 80,000-100,000t of Vietnamese wood pellets on a one-year contract starting in mid-2025 as it moves away from fossil fuels to renewables, market participants told Argus in December 2024. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US producer Core raises coal sales volume outlook
US producer Core raises coal sales volume outlook
Houston, 8 May (Argus) — US coal producer Core Natural Resources plans to sell more coal in 2025 than previously anticipated, with stronger domestic utility demand expected to offset challenging seaborne market conditions and some production setbacks. Core projected on Thursday that it will ship around 75.5mn-81mn st (68.5mn-73.5mn metric tonnes) of thermal and metallurgical coal this year, up from its February forecast of 72.5mn-79mn st. The new expectations for this year still are lower than the combined 85mn st sold in 2024 by Arch Resources and Consol Energy before the two companies merged in January to form Core. On the thermal side, Core has 75.6mn st of coal under contract to ship this year, including 26.5mn st of high calorific-value (CV) thermal coal, 41.9mn st of Powder River basin (PRB) coal and 7.2mn st of metallurgical coal. While the global trade environment is "uncertain", there are domestic opportunities because of continued US electricity load growth, chief executive Paul Lang said on Core's first-quarter earnings call. Overall US electricity generation was 3pc higher in 2024 than in 2023. And in the first four months of this year, generation was 3.9pc higher than in January-April 2024 as coal-fired generation climbed by around 20pc, more than offsetting a "small" decline in natural gas power, Lang said. Colder-than-normal weather during the first quarter resulted in surging natural gas prices and higher power prices in the PJM Interconnection, causing generators to dispatch more coal power than expected and trimming inventories. Utilities are in the market earlier this year than they had been recently, seeking both spot and term coal volumes, Core senior vice president Robert Braithwaite said. "We actually have a couple [requests for proposals] out today," Braithwaite said. One solicitation is for deliveries through 2030 and one is for deliveries through 2028, he said, without naming the prospective buyers. Core also expects a number of international headwinds to be short-lived. While there has been "a bit of a price wall" for potential high-sulfur thermal coal business to India because of recent drops in petroleum coke prices, "we would expect that to pick back up in the coming months", Braithwaite said. In addition, if there is a trade deal between China and the US, China may resume buying US thermal coal and petroleum coke, he said. This would tighten the supply of coal and petroleum coke going into the Indian market and support higher fuel prices, according to Braithwaite. And although seaborne metallurgical coal markets remained muted during the first quarter, growing blast furnace capacity in southeast Asia is anticipated to strengthen export demand for US coking coal, Lang said. Last quarter, the company sold 2.31mn st of metallurgical coal. Record quarterly production at Core's metallurgical coal-producing Leer mine in West Virginia limited the impact of a longwall outage at Leer South, which was sealed in January to extinguish a fire. Core said it resumed continuous miner operations at Leer South in February and expects to restart longwall production by the middle of this year. In addition, there were three longwall moves at the producer's Pennsylvania mining complex during the quarter. Lang noted that there is a fourth longwall move currently in progress at the complex, and the fifth and final planned move for 2025 will occur in the back half of the year. Core's total coal sales during the first quarter fell to 20.1mn st of thermal and metallurgical, down from 21.3mn shipped by Consol and Arch combined a year earlier. Core sold 7.1mn st of high CV thermal coal at an average price of $63.18/st last quarter, and 10.7mn st of PRB coal priced at an average of $14.93/st. In the first quarter of 2024, Consol's Pennsylvania mining complex sold 6.1mn st of high CV coal and Arch shipped 12.8mn st out of the PRB and from its high-CV West Elk mine in Colorado. By Anna Harmon Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australian renewable projects gain power grid access
Australian renewable projects gain power grid access
Sydney, 8 May (Argus) — A total of 10 renewable energy projects have been granted access to a power grid in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to avoid over 10mn t/yr of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of emissions by 2031, the NSW state government said today. The 10 private solar, wind and battery storage projects will connect to the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) , a 20,000 km² area about 400 km west of state capital Sydney that will avoid 10.29mn t/yr of carbon emissions, according to the state's energy minister. Construction of the 240 km transmission line connecting the renewable energy projects to the national electricity market will start in mid-2025 and is estimated to cost A$3.2bn ($2.1bn). The 10 projects will provide total renewable energy and storage capacity of 7.15 GW, capable of powering over half the households in NSW by 2031. The Central-West Orana REZ is expected to be completed by December 2028 and is part of the NSW's transition to renewable energy. The REZ is expected to generate 15,000 GWh/yr of energy when fully operational, around 5pc of the total 273,000 GWh generated in the country in 2023, according to the Australian Department of Environment. The REZ improves the state's chances of meeting its target of reducing emissions by 50pc from 2005 levels by 2030 through lowering its reliance on coal-fired generation, which accounted for 70pc of fuel used in NSW in May 2024-April 2025. Australia's largest coal-fired power station Origin's 2,880 MW Eraring provides 18pc of the state's electricity and will close in August 2027, around a year before the expected completion of the Central West Orana REZ project. By Grace Dudley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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