In the first five months of this year, European countries received 40 percent more coal from South Africa’s major export hub than they did in the entire year of 2021, according to information seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
According to the numbers, South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) shipped 3,240,752 tonnes of coal to European countries by the end of May, accounting for 15% of RBCT’s overall exports, up from 2,321,190 (4%) in 2021.
Russian coal imports will be prohibited in the European Union beginning in the second week of August, as part of a broader set of measures against Moscow.
A request for comment from RBCT was not immediately returned. The RBCT normally publishes numbers once a year and does not provide a detailed analysis of export destinations.
So far this year, RBCT has delivered coal to the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Ukraine. After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, some of them began importing from RBCT.
In January and February, the Netherlands received no coal from RBCT, but imported 1.27 million tonnes from the terminal in March, April, and May, with volumes increasing each month. It was the fourth-largest buyer of RBCT coal, with 5.76 percent of total volumes.
France’s coal imports from RBCT have increased nearly sevenfold this year, from 68,005 tonnes last year to 464,432 tonnes so far this year.
Last year, Spain, Poland, and Germany did not buy any coal from RBCT. Spain shipped 355,250 tonnes, Poland 181,515 tonnes, and Germany 157,383 tonnes in the first five months of this year.
Since January, Japan has acquired 388,249 tonnes of coal from RBCT, roughly double the amount it purchased last year.
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