UK, one of the major coal importers witness downfall of 57% in the yearly exports.
UK imported 10.45 MnT coal in CY16 against 24.05 MnT in CY15, as per preliminary data released by UK Customs.
Monthly imports rose 14% to 1.06 MnT in Dec’16, yet overall yearly imports were very low in comparison with CY15.
Quantities in MnT
Preliminary Data
Coal Demand in the UK:
Fall in coal demand for power generation could be attributed to the drastic fall in imports.
Energy Generation from coal was hampered by fall in coal production plus the continual increase in coal prices making coal-fired generation expensive in comparison to gas-fired generation.
Of the total energy generated, Coal accounted for only 9.3% in 2016, down from 25% in 2015. As a matter of fact, the share of wind power in electricity generation was more than coal-based power generation in CY16, according to the statistics provided by Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Grade-wise Coal Imports:
UK majorly imports Bituminous coal and coking coal, along with small quantities of Coke and Semi-coke, Anthracite, Pet Coke and other grades of coal.
Due to fall in coal demand for power generation imports of Bituminous coal fell by 71% Y-o-Y to 2.98 MnT in CY16 in comparison with 10.26 MnT in CY15. Coking coal imports also fell by 38% Y-o-Y to 2.93 MnT in CY16.
However, Coke, Pet Coke, and Anthracite which are imported in small quantities saw improvement over the year.
| Grade | 2015 | 2016 | %Change |
| Bituminous | 10.26 | 2.98 | -71% |
| Coking | 4.71 | 2.93 | -38% |
| Coke | 0.98 | 1.21 | 23% |
| Pet coke | 1.39 | 1.57 | 13% |
| Anthracite | 0.02 | 0.03 | 45% |
| Others | 6.69 | 1.73 | -74% |
| Total | 24.05 | 10.45 | -57% |
Source: UK Customs
Quantities in MnT
Preliminary Data
Major Exporting Countries:
Colombia has overtaken Russia to become the top coal exporter to the UK in CY16, as exports from Russia fell by 70% Y-o-Y to 2.43 MnT in comparison with 8.13 MnT in CY15.
Colombia supplied 2.61 MnT coal to the UK in CY16, down by 60% in comparison with 6.50 MnT in CY15.
USA third-largest coal exporters in CY16, also witness fall in exports by 65% Y-o-Y to 1.72 MnT.
Quantities in MnT
Preliminary Data
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