The Volume of Coal imported by Japan from Australia was 103.49 Million Tonnes in 2020
The indicator recorded a historical decline at a CAGR of 4.58% between 2017 and 2020
Impact of COVID-19 on Australia coal mining
Australia is endowed with an abundance of natural resources, including gold, uranium, coal, iron ore, copper and natural gas. The mining industry, particularly coal, plays an important role in the country’s economy. The country had the world’s third-largest coal reserves holding a significant share as of January 2020. Of the total reserves, some were sub-bituminous and lignite, and the remaining were bituminous and anthracite.
Thermal coal accounted for the majority of Australia's total coal production in 2020, with metallurgical coal accounting for the remainder. In terms of grade, most of the coal was bituminous and sub-bituminous grade, followed by lignite and anthracite.
Coal production in Australia
After increasing marginally in 2019, Australia’s coal mine production declined in 2020. Together with the COVID-19 pandemic, production in 2020 was challenged by several other factors, including bushfires and heavy rainfall during the first quarter of 2020, unplanned maintenance issues, pit sequencing and planned production cutbacks, amid weak coal demand. Although the country’s coal sector witnessed strong demand during the first half of 2020, the latter half was challenged by China’s ban on Australian-origin coal imports, which resulted in production cutbacks by major coal producers in Australia, amid concerns over uncertain demand.
Coal export to Japan
Japan, China, India and South Korea remained Australia’s largest export destinations in 2020, together accounting for a majority of total exports.
Japan was the largest importer of Australian coal in 2020, with the majority being thermal coal. In 2020, the country’s imports of coal were down in comparison to the previous year – this was primarily due to lower demand from the country’s coal-fired power plants amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Australia’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, of the total imports, more than half was thermal coal, and the remainder was metallurgical.
Major coal producers in Australia
Glencore plc (Glencore), headquartered in Switzerland, is a diversified natural resources company. The company's operations include the refinement, processing, storage and transportation of metals and minerals, energy and agricultural products. Besides coal, the company also produces and trades silver, zinc, copper, lead, aluminum, nickel, iron ore, oil products, ferroalloys and cobalt. The company owns and operates coal mines in Australia, Colombia and South Africa, and also operates oil and gas production assets in Cameroon, Chad and Equatorial Guinea. It mostly serves the automotive, power generation, oil, steel and food processing industries. The company has operations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
BHP is one of the leading mineral resource companies in the world. It discovers, acquires, develops and markets various commodities including iron ore, coal, nickel, copper, lead, silver, molybdenum, uranium, zinc and gold. The company’s operational projects include iron ore mines in Brazil and Australia, and copper mines in Peru, Australia and Chile. It also has a potash development project in Canada; a nickel project in Australia; and coal mines in Australia, the US and Colombia. It also explores, develops, produces and markets oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, the US, Australia and the UK. The company stood as the second-largest coal producer in Australia.
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