COAL exports from the US into the Asian market have grown steadily since 2007 when they accounted for just two per cent of the country's coal sent to the world's top four coal importers - China, Japan, India and South Korea - to a staggering 25 per cent of its total coal exports in 2012.
While US coal has also been gaining market share in Asia, it provided less than four per cent of Asia's coal imports in 2012, and less than one per cent of total coal consumed by the four large Asian importers.
Growing coal exports to Asia contributed to the all-time monthly record for total US coal exports in March, accounting for more than half of the total growth over March 2012 exports, according to the American Journal of Transportation in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Coal exports to China and South Korea have grown particularly fast, although exports to India and Japan have also grown. Metallurgical coal accounted for two-thirds of the growth in the past five years, and steam coal accounted for one third. While metallurgical coal export growth has been more evenly distributed among the four countries, steam coal export growth has been driven mostly by South Korea and China.
Nearly all-metallurgical coal exports to Asia in 2012 were exported from ports on the East coast and the Gulf of Mexico. However, most US exports of steam coal to Asia were exported from ports on the West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. In the past few years, steam coal exports exiting through the Pacific Northwest, a key outlet for Powder River Basin coal, have been primarily destined for South Korea.
WORLD SHIPPING
03 July 2013 - 19:23
US exports 25pc of its coal to Asia, but total still small overall
COAL exports from the US into the Asian market have grown steadily since 2007 when they accounted for just two per cent of the country's coal sent to the world's top four coal importers
WORLD SHIPPING
03 July 2013 - 19:23
US exports 25pc of its coal to Asia, but total still small overall
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