China, India, and Turkey, which became the largest buyers of Russian coal after the European Union's embargo, sharply reduced their purchases from Russia at the beginning of 2024. This is reported by The Moscow Times.
From January to September 2024, exports to China fell by 9.5% year-on-year to 53.7 million tons, to India by 23% to 20.1 million tons, and to Turkey by 35% to 15.3 million tons.
Additionally, exports to South Korea significantly decreased (by 1.6 times year-on-year to 5 million tons) and to Japan (by 9.3 times to 385,600 tons). Shipments of Russian coal to the UAE in the first nine months dropped by 20% compared to the same period in 2023, totaling 3.1 million tons.
Conversely, exports to Vietnam surged (by 4.7 times to 1.1 million tons) and to Hong Kong (up by 10% to 10.4 million tons). Among neighboring countries, Belarus significantly increased its coal imports from Russia, up 17 times to 5.7 million tons. Shipments to Kazakhstan rose by 33% to 452,900 tons, while those to Abkhazia grew 3.4 times to 78,000 tons.
Overall, coal exports from Russia from January to September fell by 14% year-on-year to 132.5 million tons.
Energy coal exports amounted to 108.3 million tons, which is 17% less than in the same period last year. In contrast, shipments of coking (metallurgical) coal increased by 3% to 24.3 million tons. In September, total Russian coal exports decreased by 21.5% year-on-year to 12.5 million tons.
