By Dominikus
The global coal market is expected to remain sluggish through the end of this year, according to industry executives, with no significant signs of recovery in prices or demand, particularly for Indonesian coal exports.
“In short, I can’t say anything positive about current coal trading conditions, and I don’t think there will be a change till the end of this year at least,” said Olga Gyarkina, Executive Director of Trinity Way DMCC Shanghai, one of the world’s largest coal trading firms to Petromindo.com on Thursday.
Trinity Way reported trading 55 million tonnes of coal in 2024, up from 50 million tonnes the previous year. Of the total, 75% was shipped to Asian markets, 23% to the Middle East and Africa, and 2% to other regions, including countries such as China, Turkey, India, South Korea, Brazil, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Thermal coal accounted for 66% of the company’s sales, while the remaining 34% went to the metallurgical coal market.
Read also : Indonesia’s coal exports to China set for slight decline in 2025
From the supplier side, similar market conditions were described by Suryadi Gunawan, Director of Marketing at PT Trimata Benua, a major thermal coal producer in South Sumatra. “The market remains sluggish, and prices continue to decline,” he said, adding that April exports from Indonesia showed no signs of a meaningful rebound.
At the recent Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference held in Jakarta, Feng Dongbin, Vice General Manager of Fenwei Digital Information Technology, presented data supporting the grim outlook. He reported that China’s thermal coal imports from Indonesia dropped 10% year-on-year in the first four months of 2025, as China boosted domestic production and saw limited growth in coal demand from power and industrial sectors.
China’s total coal imports are projected to fall to 522 million tonnes in 2025, a 3.8% decline from the previous year. Thermal coal imports are expected to account for 408 million tonnes, down 3.0% year-on-year, indicating continued pressure on global suppliers such as Indonesia. These trends suggest that Indonesian coal exports may remain flat or decline further in the second half of the year.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
