Top Charcoal Exporters by Country

August 28, 2018 by

Charcoal BBQ grill (courtesy of Pixabay.com)

Charcoal for BBQ (Pixabay)

Wood charcoal exports by country totaled US$1.1 billion in 2017, up by 17.2% for all charcoal shippers over the five-year period starting in 2013. Year over year, the value of exported charcoal appreciated 13.7% from 2016 to 2017.

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, Asian countries accounted for the highest dollar worth of exported charcoal during 2017 with shipments valued at $536.6 million or 48.5% of the global total. In second place were European exporters at 30.2% while 9.5% of worldwide charcoal shipments originated from Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Smaller percentages came from Africa (6.8%) and North America (4.8%).

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 2017.

  1. Indonesia: US$241.3 million (21.8% of total charcoal exports)
  2. China: $117.6 million (10.6%)
  3. Poland: $97.7 million (8.8%)
  4. Ukraine: $59.4 million (5.4%)
  5. Vietnam: $50 million (4.5%)
  6. Cuba: $43.1 million (3.9%)
  7. Mexico: $37.9 million (3.4%)
  8. Paraguay: $34 million (3.1%)
  9. Belgium: $32.7 million (3%)
  10. Namibia: $31 million (2.8%)
  11. Netherlands: $28.7 million (2.6%)
  12. Malaysia: $28.5 million (2.6%)
  13. Laos: $25.7 million (2.3%)
  14. Philippines: $23.4 million (2.1%)
  15. Germany: $20.6 million (1.9%)

The listed 15 countries shipped 78.7% of all charcoal exports in 2017 by value.

Among the above countries, the fastest-growing charcoal exporter since 2013 was Vietnam via its 923.4% gain in value. In second place was another Asian nation Laos (up 570.3%), followed by Indonesia (up 21.8%) then China (up 10.6%).

Bucking the upbeat trend were two decliners namely the Philippines (down -54.7%) and Paraguay (down -4.2%).

Advantages

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for charcoal during 2017. 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.

  1. Indonesia: US$240.7 million (net export surplus up 102.9% since 2013)
  2. China: $67.2 million (up 4,061%)
  3. Ukraine: $58.1 million (up 45%)
  4. Poland: $55.2 million (up 15.9%)
  5. Cuba: $43.1 million (up 24%)
  6. Vietnam: $42.7 million (up 1,146%)
  7. Mexico: $35.2 million (up 38%)
  8. Paraguay: $33.3 million (down -5%)
  9. Namibia: $30.9 million (up 32.6%)
  10. Laos: $25.7 million (up 654%)
  11. Malaysia: $24.9 million (up 65.7%)
  12. Philippines: $23.3 million (down -54.7%)
  13. Argentina: $15.4 million (down -41.7%)
  14. India: $13.2 million (up 47.5%)
  15. Djibouti: $12.7 million (down -42.1%)

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 2017. 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.

  1. Japan: -US$124.2 million (net export deficit down -1.9% since 2013)
  2. South Korea: -$109.7 million (up 9.1%)
  3. Germany: -$92.9 million (down -12%)
  4. Saudi Arabia: -$70.1 million (up 141.3%)
  5. United States: -$54.2 million (up 71.8%)
  6. France: -$46.8 million (up 15.7%)
  7. United Kingdom: -$43.5 million (down -11.8%)
  8. Turkey: -$36.8 million (up 12.7%)
  9. Greece: -$28.4 million (down -10.6%)
  10. Italy: -$23.5 million (down -11.5%)
  11. Norway: -$23.2 million (down -7.6%)
  12. Iraq: -$23.1 million (up 171.2%)
  13. Kuwait: -$22.2 million (up 57.3%)
  14. Lebanon: -$20.2 million (up 15.5%)
  15. Jordan: -$19.6 million (up 240.7%)

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

You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns.

RankExporter2017 Charcoal Exports% World Total
1.Indonesia$241.3 million21.8%
2.China$117.6 million10.6%
3.Poland$97.7 million8.8%
4.Ukraine$59.4 million5.4%
5.Vietnam$50 million4.5%
6.Cuba$43.1 million3.9%
7.Mexico$37.9 million3.4%
8.Paraguay$34 million3.1%
9.Belgium$32.7 million3%
10.Namibia$31 million2.8%
11.Netherlands$28.7 million2.6%
12.Malaysia$28.5 million2.6%
13.Laos$25.7 million2.3%
14.Philippines$23.4 million2.1%
15.Germany$20.6 million1.9%
16.South Africa$15.7 million1.4%
17.Argentina$15.4 million1.4%
18.Spain$14.4 million1.3%
19.India$13.8 million1.2%
20.United States$12.9 million1.2%
21.Djibouti$12.7 million1.1%
22.Russia$11.6 million1%
23.Latvia$10.7 million1%
24.Bosnia/Herzegovina$10.7 million1%
25.Nigeria$9.7 million0.9%
26.Thailand$9.3 million0.8%
27.France$7.5 million0.7%
28.Portugal$5.9 million0.5%
29.Serbia$5.5 million0.5%
30.Sri Lanka$5 million0.5%
31.Croatia$4.9 million0.4%
32.United Arab Emirates$4.7 million0.4%
33.Colombia$4.5 million0.4%
34.Romania$3.9 million0.4%
35.Bangladesh$3.9 million0.4%
36.Venezuela$3.3 million0.3%
37.Japan$3.2 million0.3%
38.Egypt$3.1 million0.3%
39.Turkey$2.7 million0.2%
40.Lithuania$2.5 million0.2%
41.Slovakia$2.4 million0.2%
42.Denmark$2.4 million0.2%
43.Canada$2.1 million0.2%
44.United Kingdom$2 million0.2%
45.Cambodia$1.9 million0.2%
46.Austria$1.9 million0.2%
47.Brazil$1.9 million0.2%
48.Taiwan$1.7 million0.1%
49.Sweden$1.6 million0.1%
50.Sudan$1.5 million0.1%
51.El Salvador$1.4 million0.1%
52.Ghana$1.3 million0.1%
53.Oman$1.1 million0.1%
54.Estonia$1.1 million0.1%
55.Luxembourg$977,0000.1%
56.Belarus$945,0000.1%
57.Singapore$846,0000.1%
58.Côte d'Ivoire$814,0000.1%
59.Panama$794,0000.1%
60.Norway$731,0000.1%
61.Hungary$681,0000.1%
62.Bulgaria$664,0000.1%
63.South Korea$616,0000.1%
64.Italy$535,0000.05%
65.Comoros$401,0000.04%
66.Greece$398,0000.04%
67.Nicaragua$396,0000.04%
68.Slovenia$387,0000.03%
69.Ecuador$347,0000.03%
70.South Sudan$298,0000.03%
71.Tunisia$267,0000.02%
72.Guyana$248,0000.02%
73.Hong Kong$233,0000.02%
74.Switzerland$224,0000.02%
75.Kuwait$223,0000.02%
76.Jordan$208,0000.02%
77.Finland$170,0000.02%
78.Czech Republic$169,0000.02%
79.Kenya$169,0000.02%
80.Dominican Republic$155,0000.01%
81.Guatemala$151,0000.01%
82.Morocco$123,0000.01%
83.North Korea$117,0000.01%
84.Swaziland$113,0000.01%
85.Australia$111,0000.01%
86.Papua New Guinea$77,0000.01%
87.Niger$75,0000.01%
88.Brunei Darussalam$69,0000.01%
89.Angola$61,0000.01%
90.Azerbaijan$54,0000.005%
91.Iran$49,0000.004%
92.Fiji$49,0000.004%
93.Bolivia$44,0000.004%
94.Georgia$43,0000.004%
95.Israel$40,0000.004%
96.Democratic Rep. Congo$39,0000.004%
97.Peru$38,0000.003%
98.Tanzania$36,0000.003%
99.Mali$31,0000.003%
100.Lebanon$29,0000.003%
101.Iraq$29,0000.003%
102.Congo$29,0000.003%
103.Myanmar$25,0000.002%
104.Mongolia$24,0000.002%
105.New Zealand$23,0000.002%
106.Armenia$21,0000.002%
107.Benin$18,0000.002%
108.Ireland$17,0000.002%
109.Central African Rep$14,0000.001%
110.Saudi Arabia$12,0000.001%
111.Togo$12,0000.001%
112.British Virgin Islands$11,0000.001%
113.Afghanistan$9,0000.001%
114.Moldova$9,0000.001%
115.Seychelles$8,0000.001%
116.Mozambique$5,0000.0005%
117.Bhutan$5,0000.0005%
118.Botswana$4,0000.0004%
119.Syria$4,0000.0004%
120.Chile$3,0000.0003%
121.Costa Rica$3,0000.0003%
122.Jamaica$3,0000.0003%
123.Senegal$3,0000.0003%
124.Somalia$3,0000.0003%
125.Montenegro$2,0000.0002%
126.Nepal$1,0000.0001%
127.St Vincent/Grenadines$1,0000.0001%
128.Trinidad/Tobago$1,0000.0001%
129.Samoa$1,0000.0001%

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

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 28, 2018

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 August 28, 2018

Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on August 28, 2018

Wikipedia, Charcoal. Accessed on August 28, 2018







Filed Under: Energy, Products, Wood