Philippines’ thermal coal imports ease in May

The Philippines' thermal coal imports fell on the year in May, because utilities secured ample supplies over the previous four months. But strong demand for power generation could boost imports in the following months.

Overall thermal coal imports — including anthracite, non-coking bituminous and sub-bituminous coal — were at 2.97mn t in May, decreasing by 17pc from a year earlier and down by 15pc on the month, according to Philippines customs data. The Philippines imported only Indonesian coal in May.

This brings thermal coal imports in January-May to 15.4mn t, edging down by 2pc from the same period a year earlier.

But a rise in coal-fired generation in May may have supported imports in the following months. Coal-fired generation reached to 6.58TWh in May, up from 6.4TWh a year earlier, according to data from the independent electricity market operator of the Philippines (IEMOP). This was also above 6.2TWh recorded in April. Coal accounted for 58.6pc of overall power output in the country in May.

Total power generation in May was at 11.23TWh, increasing from 10.7TWh a year earlier and up from 10.6TWh in April.

Gas-fired output reached 1.97TWh in May, up from 1.79TWh a year earlier, and accounted for 18pc of generation. Hydropower output remained weak, reaching 608GWh in May, down from 820GWh a year earlier because of lower-than-average rainfall.

Peak demand for power generation in May triggered power blackouts across the country. This led to emergency measures to ensure stable power supply in the country. The Philippines' Department of Energy fully utilised the Luzon-Visayas interconnection, allowing 250MW of excess capacity from the Luzon grid to be delivered to the Visayas grid.

Most areas of the Philippines except the southern islands received lower than average rainfall in May, according to the Philippines' weather and climate authority Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). The drier weather also led to warmer temperatures with highs recorded at 32.5°C, according to Pagasa data. This likely supported demand for power in the country.

By Nadhir Mokhtar