Light gray in color, charcoal results from the slow heating of wood or other combustible substances in an oxygen-less environment. This process contrasts with the millions of years involved for coal, a black natural mineral and fossil fuel formed under the earth’s crust under high temperature and intense pressure.
Other differences are that charcoal produces more heat and is a cleaner fuel than coal. In addition to generating energy and producing heat for cooking, black powder from charcoal is used in creating purification filters as well as producing fireworks.
Among continents, Asia sold the highest dollar worth of exported charcoal during 2018 with shipments valued at $700.3 million or more than half (52.5%) of the global total. In second place were European exporters at 28.5% while 8.5% of worldwide charcoal shipments originated from Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Smaller percentages came from Africa (6.4%), North America (4%) and Oceania (0.02%) mainly Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 4402 for wood charcoal.
Top Charcoal Exporters by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of charcoal during 2018.
- Indonesia: US$297.8 million (22.3% of total charcoal exports)
- China: $133.2 million (10%)
- Poland: $117.9 million (8.8%)
- Ukraine: $70.8 million (5.3%)
- Vietnam: $68.4 million (5.1%)
- Philippines: $51 million (3.8%)
- Cuba: $41.8 million (3.1%)
- Paraguay: $38.8 million (2.9%)
- Mexico: $36.8 million (2.8%)
- Netherlands: $35.3 million (2.6%)
- Namibia: $34.1 million (2.6%)
- Laos: $33.5 million (2.5%)
- Myanmar (Burma): $32.8 million (2.5%)
- Belgium: $32.7 million (2.4%)
- Malaysia: $27 million (2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 78.8% of all charcoal exports in 2018.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing charcoal exporters since 2014 were: Myanmar also called Burma (up 44,852%), Laos (up 588.1%), Vietnam (up 371.5%) and Indonesia (up 90.3%).
Those countries that posted the most modest gains in their exported charcoal sales were: Belgium (up 1.9%), Cuba (up 5%), Paraguay (up 11.2%) and Mexico (up 28.4%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for charcoal during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported charcoal and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Indonesia: US$297.4 million (net export surplus up 90.1% since 2014)
- Ukraine: $68.8 million (up 83.5%)
- Vietnam: $62 million (up 459.7%)
- Poland: $61.1 million (up 24.1%)
- Philippines: $50.9 million (up 34.3%)
- China: $45.4 million (up 67.3%)
- Cuba: $41.8 million (up 5%)
- Paraguay: $37.7 million (up 9.7%)
- Mexico: $35.6 million (up 25.3%)
- Namibia: $34 million (up 39.4%)
- Laos: $33.4 million (up 586.1%)
- Myanmar (Burma): $32.8 million (reversing a -$304,000 deficit)
- Ghana: $16.9 million (no 2014 data)
- Argentina: $16.2 million (down -30.7%)
- Malaysia: $11 million (down -23.9%)
Indonesia has the highest surplus in the international trade of charcoal. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Indonesian competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for charcoal during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported charcoal purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$128.7 million (net export deficit down -1.3% since 2014)
- South Korea: -$124.9 million (up 18.7%)
- Germany: -$103.9 million (up 1.1%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$67.2 million (up 134.3%)
- France: -$57.7 million (up 34.7%)
- United Kingdom: -$55.1 million (up 12%)
- United States: -$54.7 million (up 49.2%)
- Lebanon: -$33.6 million (up 102.5%)
- Turkey: -$33.4 million (up 14%)
- Greece: -$30.5 million (up 1.1%)
- Italy: -$26.7 million (down -3.4%)
- Norway: -$24.8 million (down -4.4%)
- Iraq: -$24 million (up 1633.3%)
- Jordan: -$21.7 million (up 371%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$18.7 million (down -29.8%)
Japan incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of charcoal. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Japan’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for charcoal-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Charcoal Exporting Companies
The following suppliers are examples of charcoal-trading exporters.
- Basques Hardwood Charcoal (Canada)
- Dolimex SRL (Paraguay)
- HBE Trading (Netherlands)
- Jiangshan Luyi Bamboo Charcoal Co (China)
- Kim Ban Marketing (Malaysia)
- Sumber Jaya (Indonesia)
- UA Wood LLC (Ukraine)
- Vietgo Company Limited (Vietnam)
The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
Searchable List of Charcoal Exporting Countries in 2018
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns.
| Rank | Exporter | Charcoal Exports (US$) | %World Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Indonesia | $297.8 million | 22.3% |
| 2. | China | $133.2 million | 10% |
| 3. | Poland | $117.9 million | 8.8% |
| 4. | Ukraine | $70.8 million | 5.3% |
| 5. | Vietnam | $68.4 million | 5.1% |
| 6. | Philippines | $51 million | 3.8% |
| 7. | Cuba | $41.8 million | 3.1% |
| 8. | Paraguay | $38.8 million | 2.9% |
| 9. | Mexico | $36.8 million | 2.8% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $35.3 million | 2.6% |
| 11. | Namibia | $34.1 million | 2.6% |
| 12. | Laos | $33.5 million | 2.5% |
| 13. | Myanmar (Burma) | $32.8 million | 2.5% |
| 14. | Belgium | $32.7 million | 2.4% |
| 15. | Malaysia | $27 million | 2% |
| 16. | Germany | $25.2 million | 1.9% |
| 17. | India | $20.3 million | 1.5% |
| 18. | South Africa | $20.2 million | 1.5% |
| 19. | Spain | $18.3 million | 1.4% |
| 20. | Ghana | $17 million | 1.3% |
| 21. | Argentina | $16.3 million | 1.2% |
| 22. | United States | $15.4 million | 1.2% |
| 23. | Russia | $13.6 million | 1% |
| 24. | Thailand | $11 million | 0.8% |
| 25. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $9.2 million | 0.7% |
| 26. | Latvia | $8.4 million | 0.6% |
| 27. | Cambodia | $7.7 million | 0.6% |
| 28. | Portugal | $7.1 million | 0.5% |
| 29. | France | $6.7 million | 0.5% |
| 30. | Venezuela | $6 million | 0.5% |
| 31. | Colombia | $5.9 million | 0.4% |
| 32. | Croatia | $5.8 million | 0.4% |
| 33. | Egypt | $5.7 million | 0.4% |
| 34. | Serbia | $5.6 million | 0.4% |
| 35. | Bangladesh | $4.4 million | 0.3% |
| 36. | Nigeria | $3.8 million | 0.3% |
| 37. | Japan | $3.5 million | 0.3% |
| 38. | Turkey | $3.1 million | 0.2% |
| 39. | United Kingdom | $2.9 million | 0.2% |
| 40. | Slovakia | $2.6 million | 0.2% |
| 41. | Denmark | $2.5 million | 0.2% |
| 42. | Lithuania | $2.5 million | 0.2% |
| 43. | Belarus | $2.2 million | 0.2% |
| 44. | Brazil | $2.1 million | 0.2% |
| 45. | Sri Lanka | $2.1 million | 0.2% |
| 46. | Singapore | $1.7 million | 0.1% |
| 47. | Canada | $1.6 million | 0.1% |
| 48. | Romania | $1.6 million | 0.1% |
| 49. | Austria | $1.6 million | 0.1% |
| 50. | Hungary | $1.5 million | 0.1% |
| 51. | Sweden | $1.4 million | 0.1% |
| 52. | Eswatini | $1.3 million | 0.1% |
| 53. | El Salvador | $1 million | 0.1% |
| 54. | Estonia | $1 million | 0.1% |
| 55. | Bulgaria | $965,000 | 0.1% |
| 56. | Taiwan | $796,000 | 0.1% |
| 57. | Zimbabwe | $776,000 | 0.1% |
| 58. | Slovenia | $753,000 | 0.1% |
| 59. | Greece | $606,000 | 0.05% |
| 60. | Ivory Coast | $597,000 | 0.04% |
| 61. | Sudan | $594,000 | 0.04% |
| 62. | Norway | $559,000 | 0.04% |
| 63. | South Korea | $516,000 | 0.04% |
| 64. | Senegal | $485,000 | 0.04% |
| 65. | Tunisia | $426,000 | 0.03% |
| 66. | Nicaragua | $399,000 | 0.03% |
| 67. | Panama | $362,000 | 0.03% |
| 68. | Jordan | $337,000 | 0.03% |
| 69. | Saudi Arabia | $318,000 | 0.02% |
| 70. | Italy | $300,000 | 0.02% |
| 71. | Czech Republic | $281,000 | 0.02% |
| 72. | Finland | $274,000 | 0.02% |
| 73. | Dominican Republic | $264,000 | 0.02% |
| 74. | Guyana | $250,000 | 0.02% |
| 75. | Hong Kong | $244,000 | 0.02% |
| 76. | Switzerland | $219,000 | 0.02% |
| 77. | Niger | $209,000 | 0.02% |
| 78. | Luxembourg | $181,000 | 0.01% |
| 79. | Australia | $167,000 | 0.01% |
| 80. | Bolivia | $155,000 | 0.01% |
| 81. | Lebanon | $127,000 | 0.01% |
| 82. | United Arab Emirates | $123,000 | 0.01% |
| 83. | Benin | $113,000 | 0.01% |
| 84. | Georgia | $91,000 | 0.01% |
| 85. | Israel | $82,000 | 0.01% |
| 86. | Fiji | $77,000 | 0.01% |
| 87. | Guinea | $59,000 | 0.004% |
| 88. | Kenya | $56,000 | 0.004% |
| 89. | Iraq | $50,000 | 0.004% |
| 90. | Ireland | $48,000 | 0.004% |
| 91. | New Zealand | $46,000 | 0.003% |
| 92. | Trinidad/Tobago | $43,000 | 0.003% |
| 93. | Armenia | $35,000 | 0.003% |
| 94. | Congo | $32,000 | 0.002% |
| 95. | Morocco | $31,000 | 0.002% |
| 96. | Guatemala | $24,000 | 0.002% |
| 97. | Yemen | $23,000 | 0.002% |
| 98. | South Sudan | $23,000 | 0.002% |
| 99. | Brunei Darussalam | $20,000 | 0.001% |
| 100. | Andorra | $19,000 | 0.001% |
| 101. | Cyprus | $18,000 | 0.001% |
| 102. | Iran | $17,000 | 0.001% |
| 103. | Azerbaijan | $17,000 | 0.001% |
| 104. | Botswana | $16,000 | 0.001% |
| 105. | Syrian Arab Republic | $16,000 | 0.001% |
| 106. | Djibouti | $15,000 | 0.001% |
| 107. | Sierra Leone | $12,000 | 0.001% |
| 108. | Uganda | $12,000 | 0.001% |
| 109. | Moldova | $11,000 | 0.001% |
| 110. | Cameroon | $11,000 | 0.001% |
| 111. | Gabon | $10,000 | 0.001% |
| 112. | Iceland | $10,000 | 0.001% |
| 113. | North Korea | $10,000 | 0.001% |
| 114. | Mozambique | $8,000 | 0.001% |
| 115. | Togo | $6,000 | 0.0004% |
| 116. | Ecuador | $5,000 | 0.0004% |
| 117. | Albania | $4,000 | 0.0003% |
| 118. | Montenegro | $3,000 | 0.0002% |
| 119. | Peru | $3,000 | 0.0002% |
| 120. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $2,000 | 0.0001% |
| 121. | Kuwait | $2,000 | 0.0001% |
| 122. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $2,000 | 0.0001% |
| 123. | Chad | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
| 124. | Chile | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
| 125. | Kazakhstan | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
| 126. | Mali | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
| 127. | Mauritius | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
| 128. | Malawi | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
| 129. | Somalia | $1,000 | 0.0001% |
See also Coal Exports by Country, Electricity Exports by Country and Crude Oil Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Product showroom for charcoal. Accessed on August 28, 2018
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 3, 2019
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 3, 2019
Patel Vidhu, 6 Differences Between Coal and Charcoal. Accessed on August 28, 2018
The World Factbook, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on June 3, 2019
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on June 3, 2019
Wikipedia, Charcoal. Accessed on August 28, 2018