London (Platts)--12Apr2012
Colombia, the world's fourth largest coal exporter, saw 3.11 million mt of coal exported to the Netherlands in January and February, according to data supplied by the country's statistics department DANE.
The Netherlands is Colombia's prime destination for its thermal coal, accounting for $304.77 million in FOB coal export sales during the first two months of the year.
During the same period, Colombian coal found a home mostly in the United Kingdom, Israel and Turkey.
The United Kingdom received 1.89 million mt of Colombian coal worth $197 million FOB, Israel received 992,065 mt totaling $101.95 million FOB, and Turkey received 952,728 mt worth $92.6 million FOB.
According to DANE, Colombian coal exports during January and February totaled 12.87 million mt, or $1.35 billion FOB.
Since the latter part of 2011, as a well-stocked European market did not need more coal imports and freight rates from the Americas to Asia plummeted, an arbitrage window opened allowing Asian buyers to look at Colombian thermal coal as a cheaper alternative to traditional supply sources such as South Africa and Indonesia.
However, DANE data showed Colombian coal exports to China in the first two months of 2012 were minimal, with the country receiving just 194,296 mt of thermal coal at a total of $18.17 million FOB. India received 85,033 million mt of Colombian coking coal during the same period, worth $26.13 million FOB.
According to a DANE report published in February, Colombia's total 2011 coal output was 84.6 million mt, up 13.8% from 2010's 74.3 million tons. Coal export sales totaled $7.64 billion in 2011, 27% higher than the previous year.
During the same year, Colombia's main coal-exporting destinations were the Netherlands, the UK and Israel.
Colombia's mining and energy minister Mauricio Cardenas said in February that the coal industry's output should reach 97 million mt in 2012, thanks to the expansion of several major coal mines.
This includes a $1.31 billion project to expand the Cerrejon thermal coal mine in Colombia's northern La Guajira province, one of the biggest coal deposits in the world.
The project is to be completed in 2013 and is to expand export capacity in the mine from 32 million mt to 40 million mt per year.
--Jaime Concha
Coal Terminals and additional infrastructure are required in the coal supply chain. Coal newsletters and coal prices show developing economies are more likely to increase their investment into & their use of thermal coal & metallurgical coal in coming years because of its affordability and to meet increasing demands for electricity and steel. www.coalportal.com
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