Australia leads Netherlands coal imports

Australian coal producers have capitalized on shifting global trade for coal caused by Russia's war in Ukraine to make Australia the top coal exporter to the Netherlands, supplanting Russia and surpassing coal exporting countries US and Colombia.

Since the start of 2022, Australian exports of thermal and coking coal to Netherlands ports, including the first and fourth busiest European ports by cargo tonnage Rotterdam and Amsterdam, stand at 8.9mn t through June, pushing past Russia's 7.7mn t in the same period. Australian exports were also 1.6mn t higher than US exports, and nearly twice as high as Colombian exports in the same period, according to DBX data.

The US and Australia were near equal seaborne exporters of coal to these ports for the full year 2021 at 7.9mn tonnes and 7.7mn t, respectively, followed by 4.3mn t exported by Colombia. All three were individually dwarfed by the over 13mn t exported by Russia in the same year, according to DBX data.

Speculation as to which country would fill the void left by the ban on Russian coal for Europe in early April led some to believe the US and Colombia would be stepping up production. Still, coal exports so far in 2022 from these countries, as well as others in the Atlantic basin, have been lower than year-earlier levels, according to shipbroker Barry Rogliano Salles (BRS).

"The 2022 year-to-date shipped volumes of coal from Colombia, South Africa, US, and Canada had decreased by nearly 6pc on a year-over-year basis on an already weak 2021," said BRS yesterday. "Whether Atlantic countries can step up to the challenge remains the biggest question."

Panamax rates in the Atlantic have been on a downward trend since the announcement of the EU's Russian coal ban because of weak global dry bulk cargo demand. The rate for Panamaxes transporting coal from the US east coast to Rotterdam was $21.90/tonne on 7 July, down by 32pc from a year ago.

The rate for a coal-carrying Capesize on the same route was $17.65/t on 7 July, up by 18pc a year earlier, possibly benefiting from reduced tonnage as a result of more Capesize cargoes being transported on the previously inactive Australia to Europe coal backhaul route.

By Ross Griffith