World’s fifth largest coal exporter – Colombia’s coal output have recorded a plunge of 49% y-o-y at 9.7 mn t during Q2 CY20 (Apr-Jun) against 18.8 mn t in Q2 CY19.
COVID-led five months of quarantine in Colombia, starting from March to August and lacklustre export demand pushed the mining companies to curtail their coal production.
Major miners in Colombia include Drummond, Prodeco, a unit of Glencore and Cerrejon, jointly owned by BHP Group, Anglo American and Glencore.
Cerrejon mine undergoes highest cut
—The highest drop in coal output was observed in case of Cerrejon mine whose output from 6.2 mn t in Q2 CY19 to 1.9 mn t in Q2 CY20.
—The mine had halted its operations for two weeks towards March-end amid coronavirus scare and then resumed operations with reduced production in April.
—In the first week of September it halted operations again due to a strike by its largest union Sintacarbon after failed labour contract negotiations.
Proedco’s output fell to zero
—Gelncore’s unit, Prodeco’s (located in Cesar) coal production was reported to be nil during Q2 CY20 against 3,.4 mn t in Q2 CY19 due to suspension of operations starting 23 March 2020.
—Coal output in Cesar coalfield accounting half of Colombia’s thermal coal output fell from 12.3 mn t in Q2 CY19 to 6.9 mn t in Q2 CY20.
Drummond mine sees a marginal cut
—Colombia’s largest mine, Drummond recorded a drop of only 1.4 mn t y-o-y in Q2 CY20 as its output stood at 6.4 mn t during the quarter.
Expected production in 2020
On an annual basis, the country’s coal output is expected to stand at 58.4 mn t in 2020 against 82.2 mn t in 2019. However, the coal output curb is expected to provide support to the Colombian coal prices that have observed a significant drop in past two years from $90/t in 2018-end to $54/t at present.
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