....for Colombian, Australian, South African, Kentuckian, Canadian, Indonesian....
From The Wall Street Journal, Aug 2:
Europe’s Coal-Buying Frenzy Means Windfall for ProducersMiners from Colombia to Australia see a resurgence; ‘There’s a lot of business going around for everyone.’
TÓPAGA, Colombia—The people of this coal-mining hamlet say they grasp little about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But they do know it has translated into boom times for them.
In the wake of the war, Europe is weaning off Russian coal and turning to Colombia and a host of other countries from South Africa to Australia with an urgent appeal: Sell us more coal. A commodity that was fetching $134 a metric ton at the start of the year is now selling for up to $400 a ton, leading coal producers to try to crank up production and creating a windfall in towns like Tópaga, located in the mountains in the heart of this country.
“It’s a very good moment,” said César Pardo, a miner who has seen his salary grow threefold in a matter of weeks. “With prices today, there’s a lot of business going around for everyone, from the smallest (mines) to the very biggest.”
With a European Union embargo on Russian coal imports set to start in less than two weeks, importers are racing to wean themselves off what for the continent has been the main provider of coal for power generation.
They are buying it from open pit mines cut into South Africa’s Mpumalanga Highveld and the vast Illinois basin, in Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. Germany has been buying from Australia—the world’s second-largest exporter of the thermal coal used to generate electricity—the coal dug up from rolling hills in the wine-growing Hunter Valley region.
The purchasing surge comes despite the pledges of many countries to reduce their coal consumption to combat climate change. Climate activists have expressed concern but say they see the renewed demand being short-term.
“The world has changed,” said Nicolás Arboleda, mining and metals analyst at Baker McKenzie in Bogotá, the Colombian capital. “Thermal plants using coal in Europe are again active.”
Russia accounted for about 46% of the coal consumed by the EU in 2021 and about 40% of its natural gas. As a response to a flurry of sanctions after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Moscow throttled deliveries of natural gas, creating shortages and leading to soaring prices.
Europe has responded in part by turning to non-Russian coal. The Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a report issued Thursday that coal consumption in the EU is expected to rise 7% this year. With China forecast to reduce imports by 45 million tons this year, coal shipments that would have gone there can be redirected to Europe, said Carlos Fernández, senior coal analyst for the IEA.
“The decline in Chinese imports in 2022 will be bigger than the increase in European imports this year,” said Mr. Fernández.
Germany’s coal imports from Australia were up 21% from March through May compared with the same period in 2021, according to customs data collected by Trade Data Monitor. Though a major supplier to Japan and other Asian countries, Australia accounted for nearly 17% of Germany’s coal imports during that three-month period ending this past May.
Imports in Germany of South African coal in that March-to-May period were seven times what they were in those three months in 2021. South Africa accounted for 8.1% of Germany’s imports in that period, up from less than 1% in the same months last year....
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