Coal imports by the 27 European countries reached 5 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 35% and rising 29% from the preceding month, mainly driven by the increase in coal-fired power generation, according to Eurostat data.

In July, the EU imported 3.8 million tonnes of coal from Russia, up 26.7% from the previous month and took 780,000 tonnes of coal from Colombia, a 2.5-fold increase from the previous month, setting a new high since March this year.

Due to the expected strong coal consumption in northwestern Europe this winter and the contraction of natural gas supply, industry insiders expect that coal imports in the EU will remain high at the end of this year or even the first quarter of next year.

Data show that with the increase in coal-fired power generation in Germany, the coal inventory of the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp (ARA) in the northwestern Europe had fallen to 4.1 million tonnes, a decrease of 1.6 million tonnes from the same period last year.

The decline in port inventory also indicated coal was undersupplied in Europe in the context of seaborne coal supply shortages, although the increase in renewable energy power generation will slightly ease the coal shortage.

(Writing by Emma Yang  Editing by Harry Huo)
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