European coal surged to historic highs as sanctions against Russia for its assault on Ukraine tighten the global market. Moneyweb reports that this has led many European utilities to start bidding for coal in South Africa as they are concerned they won’t be able to get supplies from Russia. “We believe that Colombia and South Africa and some current US supply will react first to the immediate need for any replacement tons in Europe,” said Wendy Schallom, senior coal and power analyst at S&P Global Platts. “Should the conflict and disruption last longer [though],” she explained, “it will be the US which will need to ramp up exports to supply the bulk of the replacement tons – as they have renewed ability to bring back additional production”.
