China has squared its shoulders

Alexander Balyuta (Titov), senior expert at the Energy Department of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Kommersant on the volume of coal imports to South Korea.

CCTD forecasts that China's coal imports will decrease to 465 million tons in 2026. In South Korea, high demand for imported coal will continue during the first quarter. In January, supplies increased by 13% year-on-year, to 11 million tons, and Russian coal by 79%, to 2 million tons, Alexander Balyuta (Titov) cites data.

"The period of active repairs at several Korean nuclear power plants continues, which will support the demand for coal in February and March. Coal imports will decrease in the second and third quarters as nuclear power plants come out of repairs," he predicts.