Russia, China, Indonesia and India comprise some of the world's largest producers of coal and account for at least 45% of global coal production. Australia and China are respectively the largest and second most important coal-exporting countries. The region also includes the most important coal-importing countries, of which Japan is the largest, followed by South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
The countries of the Former Soviet Union have traditionally been highly dependent on coal as a primary energy source. With the break-up of the Soviet Union a number of countries were able to configure their energy utilisation to local resources. Three countries dominate coal production based on the historic coal production areas of the FSU: Russian Federation, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
In late China was forced to redirect coal production to feed its internal requirements thus creating a shortage of exports to other Asian countries. At this time northern Asian utilities had become more reliant than ever on Chinese suppliers. This had a rapid effect on other regional coal exporters as a number of major consumers, including Taipower and Korean generators, were forced to tender for emergency supplies from Indonesia and Australia.
Bangladesh will become a coal-producing nation when the Barapukuria mine officially comes into production at the revised date of October 2004; development coal has already been raised. Development of the Barapukuria mine is being undertaken by China National Machinery Import and Export Corp (CMC). The mine is scheduled to produce 1 Mt/y run-of-mine (bituminous high volatile coal; ash 12.4%, 25.68 MJ/kg) from two multi-slice longwalls.
India has emerged as the third largest producer of coal in the
world, after China and the USA.
Coal is the predominant primary energy source in India. About 60% of the
total demand for commercial fuel in the country is now met by coal. In India,
the coal industry is dominated by one of the worlds largest Coal Mining
companies, Coal India Ltd. (CIL), a central government undertaking. Nearly all
of India's 390 mines are controlled by Coal India Ltd. (CIL), which accounts
for about 90% of the country’s coal production. India has recently decided
to allow private investment in its coal sector.
China's coal production steadied during 2001 producing just over 1 billion tonnes (roughly one quarter of the world total). Coal mining in China is extensive, with only four of the country's top coal miners producing a mere 9% of the country's total. At present about 60% of China's collieries are state owned. Coal makes up the bulk of
China's energy supply, with China both the largest consumer and largest producer of coal in the world. It is a net exporter, with 85 million tons being sold abroad in 2001, primarily to South Korea and Japan. China is becoming more open to foreign investment in the coal sector, particularly in modernisation of existing large-scale mines and the development of new ones. The China National Coal Import and Export Corporation is the primary Chinese partner for foreign investors in the coal sector.
Russia is a major global coal producer, ranked 5th in the world. Coal
accounts for roughly 20% of Russia's domestic energy supply. The bulk of this
production is used domestically, while coal exports accounted for 15% of total
output in 2000. Russian coal production has improved slightly from 256 Mt in 2000 to 269 Mt in 2001.
The mining and marketing of coal (KOMIR) is the only enterprise in the
country involved in the coal industry. KOMIR extracts coal from three deposits,
primarily by open-pit mining. It contains 1.9 billion tons of coal, and
accounts for 97% of KOMIR’s production. Demand is expected to grow to four
million tons in the year 2000. Komir currently produces almost four million
tons per year and expects to raise production 5.9 million tons following
planned modernisation.
Kazakhstan is one of the larger coal producers in the CIS, producing 79 Mt of coal in 2001.
PT Adaro, PT Arutman, PT Kaltim Prima and PT Berau comprise the bulk of Indonesia’s
private coal producers. The rest of production is produced by the state owned
coal company. PT Berau has not yet embarked on any full-scale mine production,
but has began trial mining operations.
