Global energy crisis draws new lines in coal’s trade map

By Bloomberg – October 5, 2021 | 8:45 pm
from Business World

THE global energy crisis is reshaping trade routes for coal, illustrating the heightened demand for a fuel many considered on the downswing.

China’s eastern province of Zhejiang recently received its first seaborne cargo of Kazakhstan coal, as well as a rare railed shipment from Xinjiang. Meanwhile, European power plants are interested in buying Indonesian coal for the first time in two years, according to Chinese industry publication Fengkuang Coal Logistics.

The unusual moves show just how desperate nations are to secure as much of the fuel as they can with energy crises looming on multiple continents ahead of the northern hemisphere winter. Coal prices are at record levels in Asia, by far the largest market.

Few cargoes have taken as much of a roundabout journey as one that traveled from Kazakhstan by land to Russia’s Zhelezny Rog Port, where it was loaded onto the bulk carrier Caro at the end of August, according to Bloomberg data. The ship spent 30 days at sea sailing 8,501 nautical miles (15,744 kilometers) before offloading the 136,000 tons of high-quality coal on Monday, according to a statement from the state-owned Zhejiang Energy Group. 

“It reflects demand from some areas in China amid an overall supply tightness, so they reach out to further coal producers,” said Zeng Hao, an analyst with consultancy Shanxi Jinzheng Energy.