ITALY DATA: Thermal coal imports fall 67% YOY in 2024 to 1.72 million mt

Italy's total thermal coal imports fell 67.95% year over year in 2024 to 1.72 million mt, according to recent data by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.

Indonesia thermal coal imports to Italy fell 65.8% on the year in 2024. Despite the continuous drop in coal imports from Indonesia, the country remained Italy's largest thermal coal supplier with a total of 380,649 mt in 2024.

In December, Italy's thermal coal imports grew month over month for a second consecutive month, even as the government looks to phase out coal-powered plants as soon as possible, according to sources.

Italy imported 184,718 mt of thermal coal in December, up 30.31% month over month and 38.72% year over year.

According to market participants, a sudden fall in temperatures led to a rise in consumption of thermal coal in December.

In that month, South Africa replaced Indonesia as Italy's largest thermal coal supplier, driven by competitive pricing.

South Africa shipped 79,058 mt of thermal coal to Italy in December from zero in November and in December 2023, the data showed. South Africa has sent 358,560 mt coal to Italy in 2025, a little over 22,089 mt less than Indonesia, which did not send any coal shipments to Italy in December.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed CIF ARA 6,000 kcal/kg NAR coal prices at an average of $111.24/mt in December.

Kazakhstan was the second-largest supplier of thermal coal to Italy in December at 67,833 mt, up 573% year over year, and up from zero in November.

Moreover, shipments from Colombia also increased in December as the thermal coal imports to Italy were at 37,827 mt, up 6% on month and down 44.7% on year.