2023-08-27 07:24:39
The energy crisis and the geopolitical upheaval caused by the Russian military invasion of Ukraine caused as a direct consequence a historic rise in energy prices and also a commercial earthquake due to Europe’s shock plan to cut its energy dependence on Russia and due to the crossing of economic sanctions and embargoes.
The most visible impacts of the crisis have been the price and supply tensions for natural gas (and secondarily of electricity) and oil (impacting to the fuels). But there has also been a historic shock in the case of coalreaching price records soaring and with European countries buying coal all over the world to replace Russian coal after the blockade decreed by Brussels. Until then about 70% of the coal imported by the member states came from Russia.
With all the players adapting to the new international energy scenario and with Russian coal banned, Spain has taken positions as a center for receiving and reselling this mineral to other countries. The re-exports of coal from Spain They multiplied by six in the first half of this year, reaching 564 million euros from 92 million in the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
Spain moves towards another record year as a major gas resale center
And this after last year, in the worst of the energy crisis and with international prices at unbridled moments, International coal shipments from Spanish ports will already quadrupleto reach 511 million from 120 million in 2021 before the war in Ukraine.
The records of the Secretary of State for Commerce reflect the income generated by coal exports, but not the volume of material resold. Currently, the price of coal in the reference market for Europe is around 120 dollars per ton, and throughout last year the prices were higher and reached an all-time high of $485 in March, a few days after the invasion of Ukraine began. The income from re-exports for Spain exceeds this year only until June what was achieved last year, which shows that the volume of ore sent to other countries is much greater.
blocking and reselling
just a year ago -on August 10, 2022- the definitive EU veto on imports of Russian coal entered into force as part of the measures to put economic pressure on the Kremlin to cut off the financing channels for the military invasion of Ukraine and after a 120-day moratorium to allow previously signed purchase contracts to be executed.
Countries around the world – notably Australia, Indonesia and South Africa, the three largest producers of the mineral – have since increased their coal exports to Europe to fill the Russian hole and meet the general rebound in demand for hard coal as fuel, in the face of the exorbitant rise in gas prices.
In these contexts, Spanish ports have become warehouses where shipments of coal from all over the planet arrive, which are then reloaded on huge ships for export to multiple destinations. The growing sales to other countries from Spain are entirely re-exports of product from other origins, given the zero coal production in Spain -there is only one effectively productive well- after the block closure of what was left of coal mining in Spain at the end of 2018.
Spain’s coal imports fell 24% between January and June this year, to 985 million euros. Some figures that are compared with the purchases triggered during the past year, which reached a record of 3,012 million euros with the international price through the roof, which meant more than tripling the less than 921 million of 2021.
Asturias as a great ‘hub’
In this new context to which Spain has positioned itself, es Asturias which by far has positioned itself as a great national center for re-exportation to other destinations, concentrating three quarters of all shipping activity. In the first half of this year, the resale of coal from Asturias generated income of 431.5 million euros, almost 500% more than the previous year and accounting for 76.5% of total national exports, according to the latest data from the Asturian Society for Economic and Industrial Studies (Sadei),
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In the first half of last year, the sales of coal, coke and briquettes –blocks of biofuels in the shape of cylinders or bricks– generated 72.1 million and accounted for barely 2.3% of the Principality’s total exports. Between January and June of this year, coal re-exports concentrated 13% of the total regional trade abroad.
The Asturian trade balance The first half of the year reflects the notable increase in coal imports from countries such as South Africa (with a spectacular rise of more than 2,000%, going from 7 to 153 million), Vietnam (with an increase of 991%), Japan (541%), Egypt (454%), South Korea (425%), India (217%) or Indonesia (181%). By economic amount, the main importer in Asturias (not only coal, but all merchandise in general) was Australia, with products valued at 374.5 million, 31% more than a year ago. Next came Germany, also with a rise of 31%, to 221.8 million.
These shipments were later redirected from Asturias to other countries. Some in which there were special increases compared to last year were Indonesia (with a variation of more than 1,800%, from testimonials of 925,000 euros to 17.7 million), Croatia (410%), Morocco (342%), Finland (145%) or India (127%). In absolute terms, the main recipients of all merchandise from Asturias were Germany, Italy and France.
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