PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian coal exports to Vietnam increased more than 538% in February, compared with the same month last year, as the Asian offtake partner embarked on a major electrification programme.
The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) reported this week that demand for high-quality Australian coal would continue to increase as coal-fired electricity continued to play a critical role in fuelling inexpensive, reliable electricity generation in Asia.
Quoting data from Platts, the MCA noted that Vietnam, which was traditionally a coal exporter, had turned to imports to meet rising domestic demand, particularly from the power sector.
State-owned Vietnam Electricity had added more than 3 400 MW of capacity from new coal-fired power plants in 2015, which consumed nearly 10-million tonnes a year of coal.
The new figures follow forecasts issued last year by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook (WEO) that Australia’s exports of coal would grow by 36.7% to 2040, increasing the Australian share of the global coal trade from 29% in 2013 to 33% in 2040.
Further, the IEA forecast that demand for coal in South-East Asia specifically would grow by 4.6% a year until 2040, with the share of coal in electricity generation expected to increase from 32% to 40%.
The MCA noted that high-quality Australian coal was the nation's second-largest export earner, valued at about A$40-billion and employing over 40 000 people directly. The industry paid over A$6-billion in wages each year and had contributed about A$37-billion in company tax and royalty payments between 2007/8 and 2013/14.