EURACOAL Market Report 2026 no.1 – global and EU data for 2025
The latest EURACOAL coal market report, covering the last calendar year, is now available at this link.
Global coal production, including lignite, reached a record 9.1 bn t in 2025. China continues to dominant, with a new high of 4,830 Mt. The closure of the Straits of Hormuz in Q1 2026 has given an added impetus to China’s coal gasification industry which consumed an estimated 380 Mt of coal last year to produce chemicals and plastics. Although a small part of China’s vast coal industry, this fast-growing sector is becoming increasingly important. Meanwhile, the Russian coal industry is in crisis, as explained in a special feature in the report.
In the EU, total coal supply including imports fell by 4.7% to 296 Mt in 2025, continuing the long-term downward trend. Lignite output was down 5.9% to 185.0 Mt compared with 2024, while hard coal production fell by 2.8% to 44.1 Mt and imports by 2.5% to 67.2 Mt. Steam coal prices, after trending downwards for the first three quarters, averaged 100 US$/t in 2025 or 11.6% lower than in 2024 for deliveries to the ARA ports of NW Europe. After a low in mid-October, prices improved, and especially so into 2026 as the Middle East crisis took hold. (EURACOAL/MRG)
