According to the latest Market Report – Week 02/2026 released by shipbroking and services group Banchero Costa, citing AXS Marine vessel tracking data, global seaborne coal shipments (excluding domestic shipments) from January to December 2025 are forecast to reach 1.33 billion tons. (MARKET REPORT – WEEK 02/2026), citing AXS Marine shipping tracking data, global seaborne coal shipments (excluding domestic coastal cargo transport) totaled 1.331 billion tons from January to December 2025, down 2.8% year-on-year.

Among major coal exporting nations: Indonesia exported 496.1 million tons from January to December 2025, down 6.9% year-on-year; Australia exported 354.6 million tons, down 0.4% year-on-year; Russia exported 172.6 million tons, up 6.5% year-on-year; the United States exported 81 million tons, down 10.6% year-on-year; South Africa exported 64.5 million tons, up 3.8% year-on-year; Canada's coal shipments fell to 47.9 million tons, down 2.7% year-on-year; Colombia's export shipments fell to 47.6 million tons, down 14.9% year-on-year; Mozambique's export shipments dropped to 20.7 million tons, down 2.7% year-on-year.

Regarding coal imports by country and region:

From January to December 2025, China's seaborne coal imports totaled 379.7 million tons, down 11.1% year-on-year; India imported 223.2 million tons, down 5.6% year-on-year; Japan imported 151.5 million tons, down 3.6% year-on-year; South Korea imported 106.7 million tons, down 3.2% year-on-year; Taiwan, China imported 52.7 million tons, down 5.7% year-on-year. During the same period, Southeast Asia's seaborne thermal coal imports reached a record high of 148 million tons, a 2.8% year-on-year increase. Vietnam imported 65.43 million tons of coal, a 2.6% year-on-year increase; Malaysia imported 36.72 million tons, a 3.3% year-on-year increase; the Philippines imported 36.43 million tons, a 3.1% year-on-year decrease. The EU imported 63.7 million tons of coal, a 1.4% year-on-year decrease; Turkey's coal imports decreased by 4.5% year-on-year to 36.2 million tons.

EU coal imports return to sustained decline trend

The EU currently ranks as the world's fifth-largest seaborne coal importing economy, following China, India, Japan, and South Korea. In 2024, the EU accounted for 4.7% of global seaborne coal shipments, down from 9.9% in 2022.

Following reduced natural gas imports from Russia, EU coal imports rebounded for two consecutive years post-pandemic. Seaborne imports surged 23.3% year-on-year in 2021 to 92.3 million tons, then rose another 38.2% in 2022 to 127.6 million tons. Since then, however, imports have entered a sustained decline.

By 2025, EU coal imports stabilized overall, showing only a marginal 1.4% year-on-year decrease for the full year (January-December), though this still represented a substantial 50% drop compared to 2022 levels.

Regarding the physical sources of coal imports, Europe once heavily relied on Russia, but this situation has now undergone a significant transformation.

From January to December 2025, EU coal imports from Russian ports unexpectedly surged by 64.5% year-on-year to 6.1 million tons, rebounding sharply from the 2024 low of 3.7 million tons. This increase was primarily driven by a substantial rise in Kazakh coal transshipped through Russian ports. However, overall imports remained 80% below the 2021 level of 38.3 million tons.

The United States emerged as Europe's most significant coal supplier in 2025, accounting for 28.5% of total EU coal imports. Annual U.S. coal exports to the EU reached 18.2 million tons, a 1.2% year-on-year increase, though still substantially below the 2023 level of 24.2 million tons.

Australia ranked as the second-largest coal supplier to Europe, accounting for 23.2% of EU imports in 2025. From January to December, Australia's coal exports to the EU fell to 14.8 million tons, a 15.9% year-on-year decline, already far below the 20.6 million tons shipped in 2023.

Colombia ranked third, capturing a 14.5% share of EU coal imports in 2025. Shipments from Colombia to the EU totaled 9.2 million tons for the full year, a 1.6% increase year-on-year, yet also substantially below the 14.8 million tons recorded in 2023.

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