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Coal market outlook - Q4 2025 | Sept 2025

Navigate unprecedented shifts in thermal and metallurgical coal markets driven by China's demand collapse, renewable energy expansion, and evolving Asian trade flows.

The coal market is being redrawn in real time

China's renewable capacity has reached a tipping point, displacing thermal coal at unprecedented rates while domestic overproduction crushes import appetite. India's domestic supply push is capping seaborne demand just as blast furnace expansion promises future growth. Russian coal is reshuffling Northeast Asian trade flows, forcing Colombian and Australian suppliers into Atlantic markets and pressuring European prices to production cost floors.

Understanding these interconnected shifts requires more than lagging official statistics. This whitepaper reveals where supply is being displaced, who's securing volumes, and how the balance of power is shifting–backed by Kpler's granular trade flow data and facility-level analysis.

Section 1

What caused China's demand to collapse this year?

Section 2

How oversupply in Asian market is impacting Atlantic basin?

Section 3

Why Russian suppliers are maintaining exports with negative margins?

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Inside the whitepaper

  • China's renewable surge and domestic production expansion are cutting seaborne coal demand by over 20% year-over-year—exactly as Kpler predicted in December 2024
  • South Korea's pivot to discounted Russian coal is displacing Colombian and Australian suppliers, who are now flooding Atlantic markets with excess volumes
  • India's domestic supply growth continues to cap thermal coal imports while projected blast furnace expansion signals coming metallurgical demand
  • Asian oversupply is cascading into European markets, driving thermal coal prices down to production cost floors
  • Real-time intelligence: How Kpler's cargo tracking and trade flow data help you act on market shifts before official statistics catch up
  • Fill out the form below to download the resource.