Extraordinary heatwaves being recorded over the past few weeks in many Asian countries are seeing higher than normal purchases of coal for this time of year. Just four countries now account for over half of all thermal coal imports and more than 70% of global power sector emissions from coal use, new data shows. China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam accounted for 53% of world thermal coal imports during the first four months of 2023, compared to 40% for the same period in 2022, according to data from ship tracking firm Kpler. Asia’s imports of seaborne thermal coal surged to the highest on record in May. A total of 78.38m tonnes of coal is likely to be offloaded across Asia in May, according to Kpler.

Source: The Guardian June 01, 2023 05:56 UTC