Russia no longer one of world’s top three thermal coal exporters

Russia has dropped from third to fourth place among the world's leading suppliers of thermal coal, having reduced its exports by 18.6% in the period from January to September 2026.

Source: Russian media outlet The Insider, citing data from analytical company BigMint

Details: Over the first nine months of 2026, thermal coal exports from Russia fell to 42.5 million tonnes, marking the sharpest decline among the largest suppliers. As a result, Russia ceded third place to South Africa, which increased its exports by 8% to 52.1 million tonnes.

The Insider calculated that in absolute terms, Russian deliveries fell by almost 9.7 million tonnes compared to the same period in 2025. Meanwhile, total global trade volume decreased by 3.2% (to 602.5 million tonnes) or roughly by 19.9 million tonnes. Consequently, the reduction in Russian exports accounted for approximately 49% of the total downturn in global trade, whilst Russia's share in this segment declined from 8.4% to 7.1%.

Indonesia remained the global leader, supplying 240.3 million tonnes (-10%). Australia retained second position with a figure of 151.2 million tonnes (+2%). Mongolia recorded the largest growth, increasing shipments by 73% to 24 million tonnes.

Russian exports suffered their largest losses in the Turkish and Chinese markets. Shipments to Turkey fell by 32% (to 15.7 million tonnes) and to China by 26% (to 15.1 million tonnes). The only market to see growth was India, where, owing to substantial discounts, shipments rose by 63% to 9.6 million tonnes, exceeding the volume for the whole of 2025.

The decline in demand is linked to a coal surplus at storage facilities in China, reduced consumption at Turkish power plants and competition from Mongolia. Rising railway transport costs, freight charges and vessel insurance are all placing additional pressure on Russian exporters.

BigMint's statistics do not cover all of Russia's coal exports. Data from a global analytics platform Kpler shows that seaborne shipments of Russian coal of all grades during the same period, conversely, grew by 7.25% to 135.86 million tonnes. This discrepancy is due to differences in calculation methods and the categories of products taken into account, notes The Insider.

Sales difficulties have triggered a financial crisis in Russia's coal industry. Official information from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service indicates that in January-July 2026, the cumulative losses of coal-mining companies reached RUB 178.2 billion (about US$2.2 billion), with 64.5% of companies operating at a loss.

In Russia's largest coal-mining region, Kuzbass (Kuznetsk Basin), 20 out of 93 mines and open-cast pits were idle as of August 2026. The number of workers in the coal sector fell from 103,000 to 97,300 people over the course of the year.

The Russian Ministry of Energy estimates industry losses for 2026 will amount to RUB 300-310 billion (about US$3.8 billion).

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