Although the focus is mostly on crude oil and natural gas, one of the substances that puts the most pressure on countries that impose export sanctions on Russia after its entry into Ukraine is coal. Because Russia; It feeds both the Atlantic and Pacific basins as the world’s fourth-largest coal exporter after Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.
After Russian forces entered Ukrainian territory on February 24, the volume of coal exports by the country maintained, or even increased, according to Reuters’ analysis of Kpler data.
Although the European countries that supply the most Russian coal have proposed banning the import, this restriction has not been fully implemented yet. On the other hand, the top coal importing countries such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands decreased to 1.47 million tons in June, while they bought 2.59 million tons in May.
The world’s third largest coal importer, Japan, which plans to stop its coal purchases from Russia, reduced its purchase from over 1 million tons in January and February to 483 thousand tons in May.
South Korea does not formally impose sanctions on Russian energy, although it is said to be planning to end trade. China and India, the world’s two largest coal importers, also do not impose any sanctions on Russia. They even increase imports to take advantage of the current price reduction.
The increase from India and Turkey offset the loss in Europe
In addition, it is stated that although there are market losses from Europe and Japan, increasing purchases especially by India and Turkey balance the Russian coal trade.
According to Kpler data, Russia exported 16.45 million tons of coal by sea in June. This is 3.5 percent more than in June last year and 3.8 percent more than in May.
Russia’s coal exports have also increased since February, when the invasion of Ukraine began. Coal exports by sea were 13,43 million tons in December; It was 12.28 million tons in January and 13.08 million tons in February. According to Reuters citing Kpler data, China purchased 4.72 million tons of seaborne coal from Russia in June and 4.57 million tons in May. This figure was 3.12 million tons in January and 2.61 million tons in February. Although China seems to have increased imports from Russia since the invasion, when compared to the same periods in 2021, it seems that China’s imports are more or less the same.
On the other hand, India increased its coal imports from Russia compared to last year in order to overcome the domestic coal supply shortage. But India’s purchases account for only 4.4 percent of the 26.08 million tons imported from Russia in June.
Turkey, on the other hand, reached the highest import level in a month since 2017, with 1,81 million tons in June. This figure has increased every month since February. In May, Turkey’s coal imports from Russia amounted to 1.06 million tons.