Ban Russia coal in August, European "sweeping goods" global coal

Special reporter in Germany Zhao Dong ● Liu Yupeng

"Europe is purchasing coal from all over the world." As the European Union is about to take effect in August, the US, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and other countries in the United States, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and other countries are loading to Europe. According to the latest data from international commodity data provider Kpler in July, compared with the same period last year, European coal imports increased by more than 1/3. Even the end of the transportation chain felt unprecedented needs. "The latest transport volume is really crazy!" Andreas, a small coal trading owner in Ruhr, Germany, told the picture newspaper on the 25th, "My customers are constantly transporting coal to the storage room." He said that the customer's contact phone has been rang since June. In the past summer, he transported a truck coal a week on average.

Many EU countries now face coal shortage due to the surge in thermal power demand. EU News website Euractiv reported that in order to reduce the energy dependence on Russia, the EU countries are restarting thermal power plants and increasing coal -fired power generation. Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and France plans to allow the closed coal -fired power plants to be enabled at any time to prevent the interruption of natural gas supply this winter and tomorrow. The Netherlands also revised the legislation that had previously stopped running coal -fired power plants. The domestic thermal power plant will run again at the end of 2023. Czech and other Central European and Eastern European countries also need coal more than the original plans.

At present, 40%of European coal in Europe is Russia. About 75%of Poland's coal comes from Russia. "It seems that about 8 million tons of coal has disappeared from the market overnight." Polish energy expert Qinzevsky recently admitted on TVN TV that it is not easy to find a alternative to Russian coal imports.

As the EU countries are looking for coal in the world, imports have increased greatly. Bloomberg said that in the first half of this year, the coal import volume in the European Energy and Commodity Transportation Hub-Antwerp-Rotterdam Amsterdam (ARA) region increased by 35%to 26.9 million tons year-on-year. Australian coal giants White Haowen Coal has received many European countries' delivery requests. The company also provided 70,000 tons of coal to Ukraine through a government package assistance plan.

At the same time, coal traders in the Asia -Pacific region are also actively exporting to Europe. "Indonesia can alleviate the tension of the coal market." Germany NTG24 News Network said that Indonesia is the world's largest coal exporter, and in 2021, coal exports are about 455 million tons. Australia ranks second with about 350 million tons of coal exports, and Russian coal exports are about 220 million tons.

In addition, coal from South America is also shipped more to Europe. "Colombia's coal is becoming more and more popular." One German TV said that El Cerrejon, located in northwestern Colombia, is one of the largest hard coal mines in the world. About 30 million tons of coal are transported from here every year. The German Energy Corporation Steag and ENBW are important customers. Uniper and RWE, Germany, are also increasing the purchase of Colombian coal.

The EU is also importing coal from the United States, South Africa, Mozambique and other places, and has also begun to shift to non-traditional suppliers. Russia's "Business News" reported on the 26th that according to the EU Statistical Bureau, from January to May of this year, Kazakhstan It is almost twice the year of 2021 to transport 1.5 million tons of coal to EU countries. Since March, Kazakhstan has exported 300,000 to 400,000 tons to EU monthly. In the same period last year, Kazakhstan exports to European coal is only 60,000 to 70,000 tons. Before imposing sanctions against Russia, Russia accounted for 65%of EU coal imports, and this number was difficult to replace. Analysts said that Kazakhstan may significantly increase the supply of coal to the European Union because its coal is suitable for European power plants.

However, a large number of coal imports have also caused severe congestion in European ports. As of the end of June, 71 bulk carriers broke up near Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, which was three times the average of the past five years. At present, the waiting time for coal ships is about 10 days, and the low water level of the Rhine has also led to delay.

German news TV states that one of the biggest issues in Germany is coal transportation. Starting in autumn, hundreds of new freight trains must transport a large amount of hard coal to German power plants. But railway companies seem to hardly prepare for this task. "Since 2016, our industry has shrunk sharply. From 2016 to 2020, our sales have fallen by about 50%." Essence Germany has stipulated the priority of coal transportation. ▲

- END -