Coal is a fossil fuel accounting for around 27 per cent of total world energy production. Coal is primarily a mixture of carbon and hydrogen atoms, with very small amounts of sulphur (bound with carbon or iron) and other elements.
Black coal is Australia’s largest single export commodity, accounting for around 16 per cent of Australian commodity trade. Australia is the world’s fourth largest coal producer (behind China, the USA and India) and the largest exporter, supplying around 27 per cent of world coal trade (including well over half of world metallurgical coal trade ie. coal used in steelmaking).
More than 70 per cent of Australia’s metallurgical coal exports and more than 94 per cent of thermal coal exports (used in power generation) was exported to the Asian region in 2008. This leading position has grown over many years of coal trade, based on the quality of Australian coal resources and the ability of Australian industry to meet and respond to the needs of its customers.
Australia’s economic reserves are sufficient to sustain current black coal production rates for nearly 100 years. Brown coal economic reserves are estimated to be able to sustain current brown coal production for over 400 years.
Australian saleable black coal production totalled 326.8 million tonnes (Mt) in the 2007-08 financial year and is estimated to decline to 320.7 Mt in 2009-10 (ABARE, June 2009). This decline is associated with the global economic slowdown; which has led to reduced global crude steel production and electricity demand across Asia
Coal exports (thermal and metallurgical) totalled 252.0 Mt in 2007-08 (value A$24.4 billion) and are forecast to decline to 250.5 Mt in 2009-10 (value A$28.4 billion). While contract prices for metullurgical and thermal coal were settled at prices 44 per cent and 57 percent lower than their respective 2008 levels as a result of the global economic slowdown, these are still historically high prices
Australia’s top major export destinations in 2008 were: Japan (47 per cent export market share), Korea (15 per cent), European Union (10 per cent), Taiwan (10 per cent) and India (10 per cent).
Australian Coal Production and Exports
Australian Financial Years | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09f | 2009-10f |
Production (Mt) Thermal Coal Metallurgical Coal | 181.1 142.6 | 185.1 140.1 | 200.5 135.4 | 190.7 136.3 |
Exports (Mt): Thermal coal Metallurgical coal Total | 115.6 132.0 243.6 | 115.1 137 252.1 | 130.5 119 249.5 | 122.5 128 250.5 |
Export Value (A$m):
Thermal coal
Metallurgical coal
Total |
6,758
15,039
21,797 |
8,365
16,038
24,403 |
17,589
34,464
52,053
|
9,815
18,628
28,443
|
ABARE Australian Commodities, June Quarter 2009 f ABARE forecast
ABARE Australian Commodities, June Quarter 2009 fABARE forecast
Australian brown coal (lignite) production, mainly from the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, was 72.4 Mt per annum in 2007-08. Brown coal is used domestically in electricity production.
Coal (both black and brown) accounts for over 83 per cent of electricity generation in Australia. The black coal industry employed over 31,000 people in 2007 and is a major regional employer in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and the Bowen Basin in Queensland.
Information on black coal transport infrastructure developments can be found on the Australian Coal Infrastructure Developments webpage.