PrintCoal Trade (section directly from World Energy Council, 2010 Survey of Energy Resources, http://www.worldenergy.org/publications/3040.asp
Coal is traded around the world, being shipped huge distances by sea to reach markets. Over the last twenty years seaborne trade in steam coal has increased on average by about 7% each year with seaborne coking coal trade increasing by 1.6% a year. Overall international trade in coal reached 938 million tonnes in 2008; while this is a significant amount of coal it still only accounts for about 17% of total coal consumed, as most is still used in the country in which it is produced.
Transportation costs account for a large share of the total delivered price of coal, therefore international trade in steam coal is effectively divided into two regional markets:
- the Atlantic market, made up of importing countries in Western Europe, notably the UK, Germany and Spain
- the Pacific market, which consists of developing and OECD Asian importers, notably Japan, Republic of Korea and Taiwan, China. This market currently accounts for about 57% of world seaborne steam coal trade.
Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter. It shipped 261 million tonnes of hard coal in 2008, out of its total production of 332 million tonnes. Australia is also the largest supplier of coking coal, accounting for 53% of world exports.
Transporting Coal
Paras below excerpted directly from http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/market-amp-transportation/
The way that coal is transported to where it will be used depends on the distance to be covered. Coal is generally transported by conveyor or truck over short distances. Trains and barges are used for longer distances within domestic markets, or alternatively coal can be mixed with water to form a coal slurry and transported through a pipeline.
Overall international trade in coal reached 941Mt in 2009; while this is a significant amount of coal it still only accounts for about 16% of total coal consumed. Most coal is used in the country in which it is produced.
Transportation costs account for a large share of the total delivered price of coal, therefore international trade in steam coal is effectively divided into two regional markets
- the Atlantic market, made up of importing countries in Western Europe, notably the UK, Germany and Spain.
- the Pacific market, which consists of developing and OECD Asian importers, notably Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei. The Pacific market currently accounts for about 57% of world seaborne steam coal trade.
Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter. It exported over 259Mt of hard coal in 2009, out of its total production of 335Mt. International coking coal trade is limited. Australia is also the largest supplier of coking coal, accounting for 54% of world exports. The USA and Canada are significant exporters and Indonesia is emerging as an important supplier.
In the USA
"Simply moving coal from one place to another has a significant environmental impact, with coal transportation accounting for about half of U.S. freight train traffic. These trains, as well as trucks and barges that transport coal, run on diesel—a major source of nitrogen oxide and soot." (Union of Concerned Scientists)
The Economist reports that coal is the biggest single rail cargo in the USA, accounting for 45% by volume and 23% by value. More than 70% of coal transport is by rail.
In the USA, 24% of the total price of coal to electricity power plants was for transportation costs from the mine. (2008, US Department of Energy)
Notes and possilbe exercises:
http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2010/01/25/2 Railroads, utilities clash over dust from coal trains
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technol... How Coal Works w Transportation section union of concerned scientists
http://leeuniversal.blogspot.com/2011/03/shaanxi-to-build-chinas-first-c... China to build first coal slurry pipeline mar 2011
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2010/01/08/victory-for-black-mesa/ black mesa coal plan permit denied, native tribe is pleased, later plant destroyed, slurry pipeline no longer needed/used