South Korea hikes Russian thermal coal imports

South Korea's imports of Russian thermal coal rose by 12pc on the year to 20.9mn t last year, customs data show. Importers prioritised Russian coal with low-sulphur content as the aimed to cut emissions. And thermal coal imports from Russia are expected to keep rising this year, with Seoul to keep tight limits on coal sulphur content, market participants say.

Imports of Russian thermal coal rose particularly sharply in August-November, when receipts of low-sulphur material grew after the limits on high-sulphur imports came into effect. Russian coal normally has a sulphur content of up to 1pc.

South Korea's thermal coal imports from Australia and Indonesia, its two largest suppliers, fell last year. This helped boost Russia's share of thermal coal imports by two percentage points to 18pc, cementing its position as the country's third-largest supplier.

Russian coal's lower sulphur content could remain a competitive advantage this year, a South Korean trader says.

Bituminous thermal coal accounted for almost 98pc of Russian thermal coal exports to South Korea in 2018. Supplies of this material rose by 13pc, or 2.29mn t, from 2017 to 20.4mn t. Russian suppliers mainly export high-quality bituminous thermal coal with a CV of about NAR 5,700-6,000 kcal/kg, but also ship some NAR 5,500 kcal/kg and lower-CV product. Sub-bituminous thermal coal imports from Russia totalled 557,000t last year, down from 675,000t in 2017.

Find more news, price information and market analysis on Russian coal exports in the Argus Russian Coal report.