South Korea coal imports rise 10% MoM in August

Coal imports in August were the strongest since February this year, the data show, most likely reflecting the strong demand for steam coal amid the hot summer weather and the parallel strong domestic demand for electricity to power air conditioners and other cooling appliances.

Australia remained South Korea's top coal supplier last month, with its shipments there rising by 19.9% from July to about 2.81 million tonnes, though the volume was down 3.2% from the same month last year.

Imports from Indonesia totalled about 2.49 million tonnes in August, up by 1.6% from July and by 9.9% on year, according to the Customs data.

Russian coal exports to South Korea experienced strong growth in August, jumping by 19.3% on month and 6.2% on year to about 2.43 million tonnes, the data showed.

Earlier this year, the Russian government has decided to remove export tariffs on thermal coal and anthracite from May 1 to August 31. The move helped Russian coal regain some market share from its competitors, Mysteel Global learned.

Also, buyers in South Korea – like their counterparts in China – have shown growing interest in Russian coal, partly attracted by its price and freight advantages. Coal shipped from the huge coal ports of Vostochny and Nakhodka in the Primorsky region on Russia's east coast can arrive at key South Korean despatch ports such as Pohang or Dangjin in just a few days' sailing.

Meanwhile, coal exports to South Korea from Colombia decreased last month, with the import volume slipping by 3.4% from July to about 1.48 million tonnes in August, almost flat on year.

Elsewhere, South Korea's coal imports from China rose by 5.6% on month to about 136,557 tonnes in August, which also represented a more than sixfold increase compared to the same period last year.

For the first eight months this year, South Korea imported about 77.56 million tonnes of coal from all sources worldwide, down by 4.2% from the same period last year, the KCS data showed.

Table: Main sources of South Korea's coal imports

Source: KCS

Written by Winnie Han, hanyueran@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com