Poland to export coal to Ukraine to offload stocks

The Polish government is encouraging domestic coal miners to sell to Ukraine because of its close geographical proximity, market sources said.

With physical coal prices under constant pressure, Polish coal miners are desperate to find new markets to offload stocks with Ukraine the most likely target market.

“This is not surprising,” one physical coal trader said. “Poland is close to Ukraine and it has plenty of coal so it makes sense,” it said.

Poland has been desperately trying to protect its domestic market from the influx of coal from Russia.

Last month, around 200 Polish miners blockaded trains carrying Russian coal at a border crossing in northern Poland in protest against an influx of cheap Russian coal into the county ( see CSD 24 September ).

Miners were concerned about large volumes of coal that Poland has been importing from Russia when there are considerable socks of Polish coal ready to use by power plants.

Several major coal thermal coal mines in Ukraine has to close during its conflict with Russia with vital infrastructure such as bridges and roads also affected, making it challenging for coal to be delivered to power plants in the country.

“Ukraine was an net exporter of coal and it has now become a net importer,” a second coal trader said.

Europe is traditionally a big market for Polish coal exports but demand is low and stocks are high. Stacy Irish