Year over year, the value of exported coal dropped -26.6% from 2019 to 2020.
The 5 biggest exporters of coal are Australia, Indonesia, Russia, United States and South Africa. Combined, those countries shipped 84.1% of the total value of coal sold on international markets during 2020.
From a continental perspective, coal exported from Oceania (mostly Australia but also from New Zealand) amounted to $32.7 billion or 39.7% of worldwide coal sales. Asian exporters generated 21.7% worth, trailed by European suppliers at 17.1% then North American suppliers at 11.5%.
Smaller percentages came from coal exporters in Africa (5.5%) and Latin America (4.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2701 for coal. Those digits encompass briquettes, ovoids and similar solid fuels manufactured from coal.
Coal Exports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2020.
- Australia: US$32.7 billion (39.5% of total coal exports)
- Indonesia: $14.5 billion (17.6%)
- Russia: $12.4 billion (15%)
- United States: $6.1 billion (7.4%)
- South Africa: $3.91 billion (4.7%)
- Colombia: $3.54 billion (4.3%)
- Canada: $3.4 billion (4.1%)
- Mongolia: $2 billion (2.4%)
- Mozambique: $590.8 million (0.7%)
- Poland: $507.3 million (0.6%)
- China: $435.3 million (0.5%)
- Netherlands: $415.8 million (0.5%)
- Kazakhstan: $339.8 million (0.4%)
- Philippines: $231.1 million (0.3%)
- United Kingdom: $179.6 million (0.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.1% of global coal exports in 2020.
The sole growth among top coal exporters from 2019 to 2020 was the 26.5% increase for coal exporters in the United Kingdom.
Those countries that posted declines in their exported coal sales were led by: China (down -53.3%), Philippines (down -49.8%), Mozambique (down -41.9%), United States (down -37.9%) and Mongolia (down -34.9%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for coal during 2020. 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 coal and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Australia: US$32.7 billion (net export surplus down -26.3% since 2019)
- Indonesia: $13.6 billion (down -23.8%)
- Russia: $12.1 billion (down -22.7%)
- United States: $5.7 billion (down -38.4%)
- South Africa: $3.7 billion (down -15.7%)
- Colombia: $3.5 billion (down -27.5%)
- Canada: $2.8 billion (down -36.4%)
- Mongolia: $2 billion (down -34.8%)
- Mozambique: $585.7 million (down -42.2%)
- Kazakhstan: $268 million (down -26%)
- Venezuela: $69.1 million (up 84%)
- Afghanistan: $43.2 million (down -37.9%)
- Botswana: $15.6 million (up 15.6%)
- New Zealand: $8.3 million (reversing a -$6.5 million deficit)
- Denmark: $8.1 million (up 30%)
Australia generated the highest surplus in the international trade of coal. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Australia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for coal during 2020. 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 coal purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: US-$15.9 billion (net export deficit down -11.4% since 2019)
- Japan: -$15.9 billion (down -31.4%)
- India: -$15.8 billion (down -29.8%)
- South Korea: -$9.5 billion (down -32.7%)
- Taiwan: -$4.9 billion (down -29.1%)
- Vietnam: -$2.9 billion (down -14.6%)
- Turkey: -$2.7 billion (down -22.8%)
- Germany: -$2.65 billion (down -41.5%)
- Malaysia: -$2.30 billion (down -21%)
- Ukraine: -$1.7 billion (down -40.1%)
- Brazil: -$1.6 billion (down -44%)
- Thailand: -$1.32 billion (down -7.8%)
- Philippines: -$1.25 billion (down -11%)
- Pakistan: -$1.2 billion (down -10.8%)
- France: -$844.4 million (down -47.6%)
Densely populated China and Japan racked up the highest deficits in the international trade of coal, ahead of a handful of fellow Asian countries. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Japan’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for coal-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Coal Exporting Companies
Below are global coal-processing conglomerates that represent established players engaged in the international trade of coal. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (Australia)
- Bumi Resources (Indonesia)
- China Kingho Group (China)
- DSM (Netherlands)
- Exxaro Resources (South Africa)
- Kompania Węglowa (Poland)
- Peabody Energy (United States)
- Pioneer Coal Limited (Canada)
- Siberian Coal Energy Company (Russia)
- SouthGobi Resources (Mongolia)
Searchable List of All Coal Exporting Countries in 2020
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. The right-most column highlights the change in value of globally exported coal in 2020 compared to 2019. (A value of 0% in that column means 2019 data was unavailable.)
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Coal (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Australia | $32,725,103,000 | -26.3% |
| 2. | Indonesia | $14,547,621,000 | -23.3% |
| 3. | Russia | $12,388,244,000 | -22.5% |
| 4. | United States | $6,092,861,000 | -37.9% |
| 5. | South Africa | $3,910,237,000 | -19.2% |
| 6. | Colombia | $3,542,690,000 | -27.5% |
| 7. | Canada | $3,396,095,000 | -34.6% |
| 8. | Mongolia | $2,002,556,000 | -34.9% |
| 9. | Mozambique | $590,789,000 | -41.9% |
| 10. | Poland | $507,316,000 | -18.5% |
| 11. | China | $435,278,000 | -53.3% |
| 12. | Netherlands | $415,790,000 | -10.6% |
| 13. | Kazakhstan | $339,784,000 | -24.4% |
| 14. | Philippines | $231,103,000 | -49.8% |
| 15. | United Kingdom | $179,619,000 | +26.5% |
| 16. | Belgium | $168,271,000 | -21% |
| 17. | Spain | $139,800,000 | +7.9% |
| 18. | Vietnam | $134,372,000 | -20.4% |
| 19. | Czech Republic | $87,589,000 | -57.7% |
| 20. | Venezuela | $69,130,000 | +74% |
| 21. | India | $68,975,000 | -24% |
| 22. | Germany | $68,783,000 | -2.2% |
| 23. | United Arab Emirates | $53,771,000 | +14,672% |
| 24. | Afghanistan | $43,255,000 | -37.8% |
| 25. | Ireland | $39,711,000 | +16.6% |
| 26. | France | $22,208,000 | -32.6% |
| 27. | Eswatini | $19,756,000 | +18.4% |
| 28. | Peru | $19,238,000 | -58.1% |
| 29. | New Zealand | $16,893,000 | -20.1% |
| 30. | Botswana | $15,788,000 | +14.9% |
| 31. | Kyrgyzstan | $15,541,000 | +4.1% |
| 32. | Egypt | $14,344,000 | -42.1% |
| 33. | Slovakia | $10,925,000 | +45.7% |
| 34. | Thailand | $9,784,000 | +0.3% |
| 35. | Denmark | $7,324,000 | -9.7% |
| 36. | Italy | $7,304,000 | -49.9% |
| 37. | Lithuania | $7,041,000 | -16.7% |
| 38. | Zambia | $6,546,000 | +294.1% |
| 39. | Turkey | $6,491,000 | +51.3% |
| 40. | Zimbabwe | $5,047,000 | +19.5% |
| 41. | Iran | $4,907,000 | -33% |
| 42. | Croatia | $2,969,000 | -42.5% |
| 43. | Malaysia | $2,614,000 | -52.8% |
| 44. | Tanzania | $2,420,000 | -84.9% |
| 45. | Japan | $942,000 | -31.4% |
| 46. | Taiwan | $842,000 | -0.8% |
| 47. | Uganda | $819,000 | +2,459% |
| 48. | Greece | $805,000 | -56.2% |
| 49. | Latvia | $742,000 | -28.2% |
| 50. | Slovenia | $676,000 | +13.8% |
| 51. | Bulgaria | $546,000 | -43.7% |
| 52. | Brazil | $484,000 | -16.4% |
| 53. | Hungary | $454,000 | -40.1% |
| 54. | Malawi | $440,000 | 0% |
| 55. | Lebanon | $425,000 | -32.8% |
| 56. | Laos | $353,000 | -98.3% |
| 57. | Serbia | $272,000 | +107.6% |
| 58. | Namibia | $259,000 | +73.8% |
| 59. | Cuba | $253,000 | +40.6% |
| 60. | Bangladesh | $231,000 | -88.2% |
| 61. | Ukraine | $229,000 | -68.4% |
| 62. | Portugal | $204,000 | +245.8% |
| 63. | Tajikistan | $141,000 | -66.2% |
| 64. | Bahrain | $141,000 | 0% |
| 65. | Belarus | $134,000 | -99.9% |
| 66. | South Korea | $109,000 | -49.3% |
| 67. | Uzbekistan | $85,000 | 0% |
| 68. | North Macedonia | $71,000 | -42.7% |
| 69. | Singapore | $69,000 | -76.6% |
| 70. | Pakistan | $61,000 | -50.4% |
| 71. | Albania | $53,000 | -34.6% |
| 72. | Moldova | $50,000 | 0% |
| 73. | Georgia | $45,000 | -35.7% |
| 74. | Austria | $44,000 | +780% |
| 75. | Finland | $36,000 | -41% |
| 76. | Morocco | $9,000 | 0% |
| 77. | Sweden | $9,000 | -99.5% |
| 78. | Switzerland | $7,000 | -53.3% |
| 79. | Antigua/Barbuda | $7,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Tunisia | $6,000 | +500% |
| 81. | Luxembourg | $5,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Romania | $4,000 | -84% |
| 83. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $2,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $2,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Djibouti | $2,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Guatemala | $1,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Lesotho | $1,000 | -50% |
| 88. | Algeria | $1,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Papua New Guinea | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Coal Imports by Country, Crude Oil Exports by Country and Petroleum Gas Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 6, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 6, 2021
Wikipedia, Category: Coal companies by country. Accessed on June 6, 2021
Wikipedia, Coal. Accessed on June 6, 2021
