US President Trump has fulfilled his promise of attaining energy dominance, which has largely been achieved through the significant resurgence in US exports of coal to countries across the globe.
In 2017, US coal exports increased by 60% to 97 million tonnes, with a double or triple digit growth to every continent, according to data published by the US Energy Information Administration.
The data showed that the top importers were India, South Korea, the Netherlands and Brazil.
The recent surge in US exports come following Trump’s pledge to help the coal industry, which has resulted in a hike in production and the promise of new jobs within the industry.
While internal demand is low within the US, there is a renewed appetite for the commodity around the world, which has led to higher prices and more competitive markets. The sector in the US has benefitted further with the reduction of regulations, introduced by the Trump administration to help balance the energy sector as a whole.
European governments, including Spain and Poland, are actively promoting coal fired electricity, fuelling demand for US coal, as well as France, where coal fired power is compensating for nuclear outages.
At the beginning of the year, coal and nuclear power played a vital role in providing baseload power for the US during a bout of extreme weather conditions.
