Pakistan: Buyers opt for thermal coal from Afghanistan amid high seaborne import prices

CoalMint has learnt that buyers in Pakistan are switching over to purchasing thermal coal from neighbouring Afghanistan via road amid high coal import prices. South Africa and Indonesia have been the two major suppliers of thermal coal to Pakistan since the past few years but imports from both countries might decline for a few months. Afghanistan has coal reserves of 73 mn t. However, the country would not be able to meet Pakistan’s coal requirements given the absence of professional mining and extraction activities.