The Australian government has been buoyed by growing interest in thermal coal from Southeast Asian countries, saying the increased demand demonstrated how bright the future was for Australian coal.

Australia's Resources Minister Matt Canavan made the comments on June 19 in the wake of a new report which showed Asia's coal import demand was set to increase by 400 million tonnes by 2030.

The study, undertaken by Commodity Insights, also showed Australia's thermal coal exports had grown from 112 million tonnes in 2007 to 200 million tonnes by 2018, largely due to the increased population and industrialization in Southeast Asia.

While Japan was by far the biggest importer of Australian coal over this period, China and South Korea had become rapidly growing markets.

Canavan said the figures countered any claims that the future of the Australian coal industry was in doubt.

"Not only is world demand for coal growing but importantly that demand is focused on the Asian region, which we supply," Canavan said in a statement early June 18.

"The demand is coming from new coal-fired power plants that require high-quality coal and that's what we specialize in. Those that want to move away from coal are denying Australians future opportunities for jobs and increased wealth."

Australia produced 430 million tonnes of coal in 2017 which made it the world's fifth-largest manufacturer behind China, India, the U.S. and Indonesia.

According to the study, a failure by Australia to meet international coal demand could lead to higher emissions as lower quality products may be used.

Meeting that demand means exporting coal from existing basins, and also from new basins as they become viable in the future supported by strong demand growth, Greg Evans, the director of the Minerals Council of Australia, told News Corp on June 18.

The use and exportation of coal over other renewable energy sources has been debated in Australia in recent years as opposition parties look to develop a transition strategy away from coal.

"Reality is catching up with the great lie that we can continue to export coal in an age of climate change," the Australian Greens Party Resources and Energy spokesman, Jeremy Buckingham, said earlier this month.

(Writing by Alex Guo  Editing by Harry Huo)
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