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.
Solar surge halts fossil generation rise: Ember
Solar surge halts fossil generation rise: Ember
Singapore, 21 April (Argus) — Clean power met all power demand growth in 2025, keeping fossil fuel generation flat, according to a report from think-tank Ember released today. Global electricity demand grew by 2.8pc on the year to 31,779TWh in 2025, according to Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026 . Total clean generation rose by 887TWh, slightly exceeding the demand growth of 849TWh. Because of this, fossil generation edged down by 0.2pc, marking the fifth year in this century without growth in fossil electricity. Solar power alone met 75pc of the increase in electricity demand. Global solar generation rose by 30pc on the year to 2,778TWh in 2025, with this being the highest growth rate in eight years. Solar and wind combined met 99pc of electricity demand growth. Renewables made up 34pc of global electricity generation in 2025 at 10,730TWh, surpassing coal's share of 33pc for the first time in 100 years. Global coal-powered generation fell by 0.6pc to 10,476TWh, marking the first drop since 2020, and the first time that coal has fallen to less than a third of the world's power generation. The fall in fossil fuel generation was driven by decreases in China and India. This also marks the first time this century that fossil generation fell in both China and India, according to the report. China led the solar build-out, accounting for more than half of the increase in both solar capacity and solar generation. Fossil generation in the country fell by 56TWh, or 0.9pc, with rapid clean power expansion meeting all demand growth. In India, fossil generation fell by 52TWh, or 3.3pc, because of record increases in solar and wind generation, strong hydropower output and slower demand growth. Higher battery deployment is also a factor in solar growth. Battery costs fell by about 45pc in 2025, while deployment grew by 46pc to about 250GWh, according to Ember estimates. This meant that enough battery capacity was installed globally to shift 14pc of new solar generation in 2025 from midday to other hours of the day. Countries like Chile and Australia are already installing enough grid-scale batteries to shift large shares of solar generation beyond daylight hours, demonstrating how storage can help to address system flexibility needs and unlock a higher share of solar in the power mix, the report said. Gas-fired generation rose by 0.5pc to 6,919TWh in 2025. Nuclear power rose by 1.3pc to 2,812TWh, while hydropower remained largely steady on the year at 4,436TWh. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Mideast fuel risks likely to boost Japan’s nuclear push
Mideast fuel risks likely to boost Japan’s nuclear push
Osaka, 21 April (Argus) — Nuclear power could gain further momentum in Japan's energy security strategy, because recent disruptions to crude and LNG supplies from the Middle East have underscored its importance in the resource-poor country, especially as Tokyo pushes for decarbonisation. Japan has so far secured sufficient crude volumes by releasing emergency stockpiles and sourcing alternative cargoes. But the disruptions have exposed the hard reality of Japan's fuel security, which has compelled the country to increase coal-fired output to conserve LNG for power generation, while it grapples with distribution bottlenecks in petroleum products and oil-derived goods essential to a wider range of industries. Nuclear energy is a price-insulated and domestically controllable source of baseload power, despite its safety issues and political sensitivity. Rising tensions in the Middle East have once again highlighted the magnitude of the social and economic impact that can arise when energy supply risks materialise, Akio Mimura, chairman of Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, said in his opening remarks at the group's annual conference on 14 April, adding that nuclear is as a "quasi-domestic energy source". Japan holds roughly three years' worth of uranium stocks, Mimura said. This is compared with crude and oil product reserves covering 243 days of consumption at the end of February, before the onset of the Middle East conflict, as well as LNG inventories equivalent to roughly three weeks of demand. Mimura emphasised nuclear power's supply stability and self-reliance, as well as its role as a decarbonised energy source unaffected by weather conditions. A 1GW reactor can reduce consumption of natural gas by 850,000 t/yr, oil by 1.55mn kl/yr (26,710 b/d) and coal by 2.22mn t/yr, according to estimates by the trade and industry ministry Meti in June 2024. Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi has aggressively promoted the use of nuclear power well before the Middle East conflict disrupted fuel flows through the strait of Hormuz, citing the need to lower electricity bills. The recent war-driven rise in spot prices for crude, LNG and coal is expected to push up Japan's import costs for such fuels in March-April and be passed onto retail electricity bills from June, during the summer peak demand season. It remains unclear whether Tokyo will resume subsidies for power and gas utility costs, which ended at the end of March. Japan currently has 33 nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 33GW, but only 15 reactors are operational after passing stricter safety reviews by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) and securing approval from local authorities. The latest reactor brought back on line is the 1.4GW Kashiwazaki-Kariwa No.6 unit , which resumed commercial operations on 16 April after a 14-year hiatus following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The government has updated its nuclear policy to enable more effective use of existing reactors, including extending their lifetimes beyond the 60-year limit by excluding offline periods, such as those for safety inspections and count injunctions, from service-life calculations. The NRA earlier this month revised the deadline for installing anti-terrorism facilities, shifting the start of the five-year transitional period from the approval of construction plans to the date of pre-operational inspections for reactors not yet subject to the original deadline. The NRA's latest decision would allow the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa No.6 reactor to operate until April 2031, instead of September 2029 under the current rules, while plant operator Tokyo Electric Power plans to complete the counter-terrorism work in September 2031. Nuclear supply from the No.6 reactor is expected to reduce LNG consumption by around 1.1mn t/yr, Takaichi said in late March. This would cover around 30pc of Japan's LNG imports passing through the strait of Hormuz, Meti minister Ryosei Akazawa said on 14 April. Japan's strategic energy plan targets nuclear power to account for 20pc of the power mix in the April 2040-March 2041 fiscal year, up from 11pc in 2024-25, as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 73pc from 2013-14 levels. The country's GHG emissions stood at 994mn t of CO2 in 2024-25 , down by 29pc from the baseline year, environment ministry data released on 14 April show. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Kazakhstan, Mongolia to boost coal co-operation
Kazakhstan, Mongolia to boost coal co-operation
London, 20 April (Argus) — Kazakhstan and Mongolia held discussions today to boost co-operation in various energy sectors, including coal. Kazakhstan's energy minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov met with Mongolia's industry and mineral resources minister Gongoryn Damdinnyam to discuss ways in which the two countries can develop their energy sectors. The discussions included jointly developing projects for deep coal processing and analysing coal specifications. Countries in central Asia have recently pushed for developments in their respective coal sectors, with several having already received investments from China , Russia and the US . Kazakhstan plans to produce 128.9mn t of coal this year which, if achieved, would represent an 11pc increase from 115.9mn t produced in 2025. Kazakhstan is the largest coal producer in central Asia and aims to aggressively ramp up coal production this year to increase coal-fired power generation as part of a national project . The country aims to increase exports of thermal coal after shipping around 30mn t last year to Russia, Poland, Uzbekistan, Turkey, India and Malaysia. Mongolia exported 27.5mn t of coal in January-March, up by 57pc on the year, all to China. The country did, however, set a more conservative target of 90mn t coal production earlier this year, likely because of the risk of falling metallurgical coal demand from Chinese steelmakers. Separately, Kazakhstan plans to cut emissions from coal-fired power plants by just over a third as part of its national project starting this year, the energy ministry announced today. This will be achieved by modernising existing coal plants and using modern equipment to build its new fleet of supercritical coal-fired power plants. By Shreyashi Sanyal Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Indonesia raises HBA coal prices across all grades
Indonesia raises HBA coal prices across all grades
Singapore, 16 April (Argus) — Indonesia has raised its government-calculated coal reference prices (HBA) across all grades for the second fortnight of April from the previous fortnight. The HBA price for high-calorific value (CV) GAR 6,322 kcal/kg coal was set at $103.43/t, up by 3.5pc from $99.87/t in the first half of April. The HBA I, which serves as the price for mid-CV GAR 5,300 kcal/kg coal, was set at $77.71/t, up by 7.5pc from $72.28/t previously. The HBA II, which is the price for low-CV GAR 4,100 kcal/kg coal, was set at $52.84/t, up by 5.7pc from $49.99/t in the first half of April. The HBA III, which covers ultra-low CV GAR 3,400 kcal/kg coal, was up by 8.7pc at $38.30/t from $35.23/t previously. HBA prices are primarily used to calculate royalty payments made by coal producers to the government. Argus last assessed the weekly price of Indonesian GAR 6,500 kcal/kg coal at $115.93/t fob Kalimantan on 10 April. Mid-CV GAR 5,000 kcal/kg coal was assessed at $75.36/t fob Kalimantan on 10 April, while GAR 4,200 kcal/kg prices for geared Supramaxes were assessed at $59.31/t fob Kalimantan. GAR 3,400 kcal/kg coal was marked at $35.95/t fob Kalimantan on 10 April. By Ajay Modi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Explore our coal products
Real time access to trusted price assessments, indexes, global market intelligence, analytics and outlooks for European, Asia-Pacific, Americas and African coal markets.
Key price assessments
Argus prices are recognised by the market as trusted and reliable indicators of the real market value. Explore some of our most widely used and relevant price assessments.