South Korea Coal Imports Rise 3% M-o-M in Mar'20
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South Korea's coal imports have increased by 3.12% on a month-on-month basis to 9.26 million tonnes (MnT) in March 2020, as compared to 8.98 MnT in February, as per the latest customs data compiled by CoalMint Research.
Moreover, on a year-on-year basis, the country's coal exports rose by 2.81% than the import volume of 9.00 MnT in Mar'19.
However, on a year-to-date basis, South Korean coal imports have totaled 137.59 MnT during the last fiscal year FY 2020 (Apr'19-Mar'20), down 6.94% against the total imports of 147.85 MnT recorded during the previous fiscal year FY 2019 (Apr'18-Mar'19).
Grade-wise South Korea Coal Import:
| Commodity | March'20 | February'20 | % Change M-o-M | March'19 | % Change Y-o-Y |
| Non Coking Coal | 66,37,751 | 67,93,831 | -2.3 | 65,50,257 | 1.34 |
| Coking Coal | 19,36,156 | 15,90,136 | 21.8 | 15,74,138 | 23.00 |
| Anthracite | 4,77,393 | 2,90,541 | 64.3 | 6,43,378 | -25.80 |
| Pet Coke | 99,569 | 71,240 | 39.8 | 64,831 | 53.58 |
| Others | 73,971 | 2,12,025 | -65.1 | 1,40,614 | -47.39 |
| Met Coke | 31,792 | 18,870 | 68.5 | 30,013 | 5.93 |
| TOTAL | 92,56,632 | 89,76,644 | 3.1 | 90,03,232 | 2.81 |
Source: Custom Provisional Data, CoalMint Research | Quantity in MT
Major Coal Exporters to South Korea in Mar'20:
Australia, Indonesia, Russia and Canada were the largest coal exporters to South Korea -- together contributing about 92% of South Korea's total coal imports in the month of March 2020.
South Korea's coal imports from Australia, its largest supplier, stood at 3.44 MnT in Mar'20, up 12.2% from 3.07 MnT in Feb'20.
Contrarily, Indonesian coal receipts by South Korea dropped by 0.8% M-o-M to 2.25 MnT in Mar'20, as compared to 2.27 MnT in the month ago.
Russia remained as the third-largest coal exporter to South Korea during the month of March with exports of 1.72 MnT, up 22.3% from 1.41 MnT in Feb'20.
Source: CoalMint Research | Quantity in MnT
The following table provides a more detailed breakup of the exporting countries.
| Country | Mar'20 | Feb'20 | Change |
| Australia | 3,441,808 | 3,066,415 | 12.24% |
| Indonesia | 2,248,394 | 2,265,661 | -0.76% |
| Russia | 1,719,702 | 1,405,675 | 22.34% |
| Canada | 1,095,191 | 1,349,289 | -18.83% |
| United States | 482,164 | 480,212 | 0.41% |
| China | 193,489 | 51,867 | 273.05% |
| Colombia | 74,102 | 304,691 | -75.68% |
| Saudi Arabia | 43,999 | ||
| South Africa | 32 | ||
| Others | 1,781 | 8,803 | |
| TOTAL | 9,256,631 | 8,976,644 | 3.12% |
Source: CoalMint Research | Quantity in MT
