Australian thermal coal export shipments remained largely stable in April, up marginally by 2% m-o-m to 13.7 mnt, CoalMint vessel line-up data showed.
Any sharp rise in Australian overall exports was limited amid logistic constraints in the country as waterlogging in the coal-producing regions of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, and vessel queues outside Newcastle and Kembla ports affected export shipments to a large extent.
Trade dynamics
*Qty in mnt
Shipments to the Netherlands rose sharply for the second straight month in April by a whopping 176%. In a bid to replace Russian energy imports, the Netherlands have raised its procurement of other origin coal including Australia. Russia exported a monthly average of 1 mnt of thermal coal to the Netherlands in 2021.
Export shipments to Thailand and Malaysia also witnessed a considerable rise last month amid a sharp rise in power demand in the country and their traditional purchase, Indonesian coal, being diverted to countries like Europe at higher premiums.
Shipments to Japan rose by 7% m-o-m because of increased power demand, risen LNG prices, and long-term coal contracts. Also, Australian coal works well with their power plants because of low-sulphur content.
On the other hand, Australian thermal coal exports to South Korea fell sharply by 25% in April as buyers refrained from making major booking amid elevated prices and opted for Indonesian-origin coal with slightly higher sulphur content.
Shipments to Taiwan fell by 4%, while that to India were down by 32% amid elevated prices that rose by 40% in April against pre-conflict month of Feb’22.
Short-term outlook
Demand for Australian coal is likely to remain strong in Europe and Asia as sanctions on Russian exports remain in place. However, logistic concerns due to forecasted wet weather conditions may dampen a drastic rise in the country’s exports this month.
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