<article><p class="lead">Morocco's reliance on Russian coal imports increased in the first 11 months of 2020, as receipts from other sources fell sharply.</p><p>Overall coal shipments to Morocco were flat on the year at 9.2mn t in January-November, but Russian deliveries accounted for 87pc of the total, up from 57pc a year earlier, as intake jumped by 54pc to 8mn t.</p><p>The increase in Russian receipts made up for a decline in deliveries from the US, which fell by more than two-thirds on the year to 816,000t, cutting the US' market share to just 9pc from 31pc.</p><p>Receipts from South Africa plummeted to 61,000t in January-November, with all of this arriving in June — just over a tenth of what was delivered in the first 11 months of 2019. This meant South African deliveries accounted for just 1pc of Moroccan imports in January-November, compared with 6pc in the same period a year earlier.</p><p>Imports from Colombia more than doubled on the year to 185,000t — the biggest annual total since 2016, but with just 4,000t delivered since July.</p><p>The overall trend in Moroccan imports since 2012 has been a shift from the US to Russia as the primary source. In January-November 2012, US material accounted for 80pc of Moroccan imports, with Russian receipts making up just 15pc (<i>see chart</i>). South Africa temporarily became the main provider in 2015, but otherwise it has been Russia or the US.</p><p>The shift has been driven by a change in Russian and US coal price spreads. In 2020, <i>Argus</i>' New Orleans 13,000 Btu GAR fob assessment held a discount of just $10.39/t on average to the Russian Black Sea fob assessment, down from $20.06/t in 2019 and $26.08/t in 2018. But so far in 2021, the spread has widened to $18.82/t, which could encourage a recovery in Moroccan demand for US coal.</p><p class="bylines">By Robert Preston</p><p><div class="picture"><div><span class="pic_title">Morocco Jan-Nov coal imports</span> <span class="units">mn t</span></div><img src="https://argus-public-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/2021/01/25/moroccanimportsjan-nov25012021035213.jpg"></div></article>
