Colombian July coal exports fall 15% on month, 6.6% on year

Houston — Colombia exported 5.73 million mt of coal in July, down 15.1% from June and 6.6% lower than the year-ago month, according to data from government statistics agency DANE published Sept. 1.

July coal exports were down 22.5% from the five-year average for the corresponding month and was the lowest for the month since 5.57 million mt in 2010.

However, through the first seven months of 2020, Colombia has exported 51.3 million mt of coal, up 14.9% from the same period in 2019 and the third-highest total in the last 29 years, only behind 54.78 million mt in 2017 and 54.23 million mt in 2018.

Export receipts from coal totaled $301.45 million in July, down 16.6% from June and 34.1% lower on the year. It was the lowest total for coal receipts in a month since $274.42 million in March 2016.

On a price per ton basis, exports were at $52.61/mt FOB, down from $53.52/mt in June and $74.52/mt in the year-ago month. It was the second-lowest figure in the last four years, only higher than $51.33/mt in May.

It was also the third straight month with receipts under $54/mt, which marked only the second time in the last 13 years. The other occasion was a four-month stretch between December 2015 and March 2016.

Through the first seven months of 2020, receipts were a combined $2.97 billion, or $57.86/mt, down from $3.69 billion, or $82.63/mt, in the same period a year earlier.

Workers at the Cerrejon mine went on strike Aug. 31 after negotiations broke down between the mine and labor union Sintracarbon, according to a union statement. The mine, which is equally owned by Glencore, BHP and Anglo American, said in August it exported just 9.5 million mt in the first six months of 2020, down 3.8 million mt from a year earlier and the lowest figure for a six-month period in 18 years.

The second-largest mine in Colombia exported over 26.3 million mt in 2019.