Russia: Coal Exports Up 3% Y-o-Y in Q3 CY19

Russian coal exports have increased 3% on the year to 52.06 MnT during the third quarter of CY19. The country had exported 50.32 MnT coal in the year-ago period.

Coal volumes have been particularly rising on the monthly basis in Q3 CY19, but the strong y-o-y growth seen in Jul’19 was nullified by a comparatively subdued sales recorded in the later part.

Notably, exports in Q3 CY19 were almost stable on the quarter from 52.01 MnT registered in Q2 CY19, with sales quantity in Sep’19 extending its y-o-y fall for the second straight month.

In the first 9 months of CY19 (Jan-Sep’19), Russian coal exports have recorded an uptick of 6% on the year to 158.44 MnT, compared with 149.33 MnT noted in Jan-Sep’18 period. The rail and port developments in the eastern part of the country and the persistently weak ruble are expected to further support the ongoing growth in coal exports.

Grade-wise Coal Exports:
The noticeable growth in exports was mainly attributed to the rise in non-coking coal shipments in the quarter period. Apparently, export volume of non-coking coal increased 8% Y-o-Y to 38.32 MnT in Q3 CY19 as against 35.33 MnT in Q3 CY18.

Coking coal exports from the country decreased 7% on the year to 6.5 MnT in the third quarter, followed by Anthracite whose export sales were down 10% Y-o-Y in the same period.

Source: Russian customs
Quantity in MnT

Major Coal Importers:
China emerged as the largest coal receiver with imports of 7.26 MnT recorded in Q3 CY19. Coal volume surged 30% on the year from 5.57 MnT in Q3 CY18, but had fell 6% on the quarter from 7.76 MnT in Q2 CY19.

Japanese coal imports from Russia increased 11% Y-o-Y to 5.67 MnT Q3 CY19, which was also marked 31% higher on the year from 4.32 MnT in Q2 CY19.

Coal intake by South Korea dropped 16% on the year to 5.59 MnT in Q3 CY19, but was recorded slightly higher than the levels attained in the previous quarter period.