Japan reduced dependence on Russian coal following February 2022. Energy companies in the country are looking for alternative suppliers, in particular in Indonesia and South Africa, reports Nikkei.
According to the Ministry of Finance of Japan, in February of this year, Japan imported 230,000 tons of coal from Russia. This is 73% less than in February 2022.
From April 2022 to February 2023, imports amounted to regarding 6.5 million tons, which is 45% less year-on-year. According to the agency, the share of Russian coal in total imports was 2% once morest 9% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, coal imports from Japan to Indonesia rose by 28% over the same period. Imports from Canada doubled, from South Africa – six times.
At the end of 2021, Russia was the second largest supplier of coal to Japan, second only to Australia. Now Indonesia is ahead of Russia in terms of the volume of deliveries. The Japanese government decided to reduce its dependence on Russian coal in April 2022, two months following the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.
In the summer of 2022, the largest Japanese energy group, Jera, completely suspended purchases of Russian coal. Russia accounted for 10% of its annual coal imports (regarding 20 million tons).