After "hoarding grain", many countries began to "grab coal"! China will add 300 million tons of coal production capacity, no worries

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Since the EU announced in early April that it had approved an embargo on Russian coal, the coal market has once again experienced a wave of turmoil.

The coal embargo imposed by the EU has a 120-day transition period, which means that EU member states will search for other alternative channels for coal imports during this period.

In addition to Europe being highly dependent on Russia for natural gas, the same is true for coal.

Data show that 45% of the EU’s coal imports come from Russia, even higher than natural gas. For example, Germany’s dependence on Russian coal imports is as high as 50%.

This also means that Europe is beginning to look for new sources of coal supply.

At the same time, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries have also successively announced bans on Russian coal, which has further intensified the volatility of the global coal market, and coal prices have risen sharply.

1. Many countries began to “grab for coal”

It was against the above background that many countries began to “grab for coal.” For example, South Africa’s large coal producer Aiso Mining stated that it was indeed collecting coal. A large number of orders have been received from European countries. At the same time, coal producers in Indonesia, the world's largest coal exporter, also stated that coal exports to Europe have increased significantly recently.

Data show that in March, European countries imported 809,000 tons of coal from the United States, 1.3 million tons from Colombia, and 287,000 tons from South Africa. The total import volume increased by 40.5% year-on-year.

The "grab for coal" by many countries has once again intensified the supply and demand tension in the global coal market, and global coal prices continue to rise.

At the same time, people are also worried about another question: Will there really be a shortage of coal?

2. China will add 300 million tons of coal production capacity

Coal and natural gas are the two most important energy sources for electricity and heating in the world. However, in the past 30 years, EU countries have experienced significant Reduced coal use.

Data show that from 1990 to 2020, the number of coal-producing countries in the EU dropped from 12 to only 2, and coal production dropped from 280 million tons to 60 million tons, a drop of 79%. .

However, in many developing countries, such as China and India, coal is still the main source of power for power generation.

Take my country as an example. In 2020, China consumed 4 billion tons of coal throughout the year, ranking first in the world.

According to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs of China this year, China imported 323 million tons of coal and lignite in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, of which approximately 190 million tons of coal was imported from Indonesia, accounting for the highest proportion. Close to 60, and South Africa and Australia are also among the top five importers.

This inevitably makes people worry that with many countries "grabbing for coal" and global coal prices soaring, will there be a shortage of coal, which will affect my country's imports?

Relevant data also show that my country’s coal imports declined in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, my country imported 51.812 million tons of coal, a year-on-year decrease of 24.2%.

As international coal prices continue to rise, domestic and international prices are inverted, which has also suppressed import demand to a certain extent.

In response to this situation, in April, our country proposed to increase coal production capacity by another 300 million tons this year through various measures such as nuclear production capacity increase, production expansion, and new production, and use market-oriented rule of law. We will adopt standardized measures to guide coal prices to operate within a reasonable range.

3. In addition to stabilizing the “food rice bowl”, we must also stabilize the “coal bowl”

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, against the backdrop of overcapacity reduction, my country’s coal industry has About 1 billion tons/year of backward production capacity were withdrawn. In the fourth quarter of last year, 220 million tons/year of production capacity had been released. However, the global coal market has been undergoing changes this year. As the world's largest coal consumer, the "coal bowl" is also Keep it tight.

On the one hand, my country is rich in coal resources, with proven reserves currently accounting for 12.6% of the global total, second only to the United States and Russia.

On the other hand, Russia’s coal exports to China last year were approximately 52 million tons, accounting for approximately 25% of its total exports. As the global coal supply and demand pattern changes, Russia’s coal exports to China are expected to increase Increase. In February this year, Russia made it clear that it would expand coal exports to China. Compared with last year's 52 million tons, Russia is expected to double this year.

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