Russia Slips to Fourth Among Top Thermal Coal Exporters as Shipments Drop 18.6%

Russia has fallen from third to fourth place among the world's leading thermal coal suppliers after its exports dropped by 18.6% between January and September 2026. The figures come from the analytical company BigMint, as reported by the Russian outlet The Insider.

Over the first nine months of the year, Russian thermal coal exports declined to 42.5 million tonnes, the steepest fall among the major suppliers. South Africa took over third place, raising its own shipments by 8% to 52.1 million tonnes.

The Insider calculated that Russian deliveries were down by almost 9.7 million tonnes compared with the same period of 2025. Global trade in thermal coal also contracted, by 3.2% to 602.5 million tonnes, or about 19.9 million tonnes. Russia's reduction therefore made up roughly 49% of the worldwide downturn, and its share of this segment slipped from 8.4% to 7.1%.

Indonesia remained the world leader with 240.3 million tonnes, a decrease of 10%. Australia held second place at 151.2 million tonnes, up 2%. Mongolia posted the biggest increase, lifting shipments by 73% to 24 million tonnes.

Russia's largest losses came in Turkey and China. Shipments to Turkey fell 32% to 15.7 million tonnes, while those to China dropped 26% to 15.1 million tonnes. India was the only market to grow. Thanks to substantial discounts, deliveries there rose 63% to 9.6 million tonnes, which is more than the volume for all of 2025.

The weaker demand is linked to a coal surplus at storage sites in China, lower consumption at Turkish power plants and competition from Mongolia. Higher railway costs, freight charges and vessel insurance are adding further pressure on Russian exporters.

BigMint's statistics do not capture all of Russia's coal exports. Data from the analytics platform Kpler show that seaborne shipments of Russian coal of all grades over the same period actually grew by 7.25% to 135.86 million tonnes. The Insider notes that the gap stems from differences in calculation methods and in the product categories counted.

The sales difficulties have fed a financial crisis in the industry. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, coal-mining companies had accumulated losses of RUB 178.2 billion (about US$2.2 billion) in January to July 2026, and 64.5% of them were operating at a loss.

In Kuzbass, the Kuznetsk Basin and Russia's largest coal-mining region, 20 of 93 mines and open-cast pits were idle as of August 2026. Employment in the sector fell from 103,000 to 97,300 people over the year. The Russian Ministry of Energy estimates that industry losses for 2026 will reach RUB 300 billion to 310 billion, about US$3.8 billion.