10 World’s Biggest Coal Producers-According to World Mining Data 2021, International Organizing Committee for The World Mining Congresses, there Top 10 world’s biggest coal producers in 2019. Because of the abundance of coal reserved in some countries, they can produce huge coal from their own land. Some countries with huge reserves of coal absolutely have the advantage to use it for domestic industries. Basically, some producers of coal with huge reserves also sales it to foreign countries to add their trading income.
Commonly, coal is solid organic fuel sediment formed from plants that have undergone biochemical and physical decay in oxygen-free conditions that take place at certain pressures and temperatures for an exceedingly extended period. Chemically, coal is composed of several elements i.e., carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, and oxygen with classified into four types, namely anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite. In the modern era, along with the development of technology.
Statistically, the production of coal is at stable levels. The world still needs coal. In the last 5 years, from 2015-2019, the production of steam coal showed an uptrend from 5,6 billion tons in 2015, 5,2 billion tons in 2016, 5,5 billion tons in 2017, 5,8 billion tons in 2018, and 5,9 billion tons in 2019. Based on the country regions, China, India, Indonesia, The United States of America, and Australia still become the biggest producers of steam coal.
the statistics production of coking coal in the mixed level with up and downtrend. 1,09 billion tons in 2015, 1,04 billion tons in 2016, 1,02 billion tons in 2017, 989 million tons in 2018, and 1,025 billion tons 2019. China, Australia, Russia, and The United States of America (USA) still become the biggest producers of coking coal / Metallurgical coal.
Steam coal Is usually used for electric power production because of its ability to burn quickly at elevated temperatures. Based on the countries, there are ten world’s biggest steam coal producers in 2019, these data were obtained from World Mining Data 2021. Here is the rank of 10 World’s Biggest of Steam Coal Producers.
The Rank of 10 World’s Biggest of Steam Coal Producers
| Rank | Countries | Production of Steam Coal in 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| (metric tons) | ||
| 1 | China | 2,967,272,082 |
| 2 | India | 677,936,000 |
| 3 | Indonesia | 610,407,030 |
| 4 | The United States of America | 521,540,300 |
| 5 | Australia | 271,618,000 |
| 6 | Russia | 266,700,000 |
| 7 | South Africa | 249,665,481 |
| 8 | Kazakhstan | 98,593,000 |
| 9 | Columbia | 75,042,100 |
| 10 | Poland | 50,009,000 |
| Source : World Data Mining, 2021 | ||
Meanwhile, choking coal, the coal that has low sulfur and phosphorus content, is used in the steel industries. Based on the coking coal producers in 2019, there are ten world’s biggest producers of coking coal. Here is the rank of 10 World’s Biggest Coking Coal Producers.
The Rank of 10 World’s Biggest of Coking Coal Producers
| Rank | Countries | Production of Coking Coal in 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| (metric tons) | ||
| 1 | China | 502,544,830 |
| 2 | Australia | 188,251,000 |
| 3 | Russia | 93,900,000 |
| 4 | The United States of America | 64,168,100 |
| 5 | India | 52,937,000 |
| 6 | Canada | 33,921,000 |
| 7 | Mongolia | 30,516,900 |
| 8 | Poland | 12,071,000 |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 10,478,500 |
| 10 | Ukraine | 5,783,200 |
| Source : World Data Mining, 2021 | ||
Brief Descriptions of 10 World’s Coal Producers
1.China
China becomes the biggest of coal producers in 2019. Statistically, the total production of steam coal reaches 2,9 billion tons, and coking coal reaches 502 million tons. In this country, some coal mining areas are explored in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces. The usage of coal production can be utilized in the electric power industry, metal industry, and some industries that need heating processes.
2.India
India is the next biggest producer of coal in 2019. Based on the World Mining Data 2021, the production of steam coal from this country reaches 677 million tons. It makes India the second-biggest producer of Steam Coal. Meanwhile, the production of coking coal reaches fifty-two million tons and makes India the fifth world is biggest of coking coal producers.
Geographically, there are some states in India with the biggest coal reserves. These states are Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madya Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra. As one of the populous countries, India needs coal to generate electric power, Raw material for metal industries, and some coal has some functions on Cement and Fertilizer industries.
3.Indonesia
Indonesia is the next biggest producer of coal. The archipelago country can produce 610 million of steam coal and 1.6 million tons of coking coal. Geographically, there are some provinces in Indonesia that have the biggest production of coal. These provinces are Papua Barat (West Papua), Kalimantan Selatan (South Kalimantan), Sumatera Selatan (South Sumatera), Aceh, and Sumatera Barat (West Sumatera). The huge production of coal from Indonesia has benefits in electric power industries, fertilizer, and steel industries. Indonesia also exports coal to other countries, namely China, India, South Korea, and others.
4.The United States of America
The United States of America is the next one of the biggest producers of coal. In 2019, based on Mining Database in 2021, the production of steam coal from this country reaches 521 million tons and coking coal reach sixty-four million tons. This data showed that the United States become the fourth biggest producer of Steam coal and Coking Coal. Geographically, in the USA, there are primary areas of coal productions. Some of the states with the biggest production of Coal are Wyoming, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and North Dakota
5.Australia
Australia is the next biggest country of coal. In 2019, the production of kangaroo country reaches 271 million tons of steam coal and 188 million of coking coal. This data showed that Australia is the fifth biggest of steam coal and the second biggest of coking coal. Geographically, in this country, there are some states with the biggest production of coal (black and brown coal). These regions are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. More than 70% of coal is produced from open-cut mines. It happens because this mining process need less expenditure than underground mining.
6.Russia
Russia is the European country with the biggest coal production. In 2019, the production of Russia’s steam coal reached 266 million tons and ninety-three million tons of coking coal. It makes Russia as the fifth biggest of Steam Coal and the third biggest of coking coal. Geographically, in this Karl Max’s country, some coal mining areas in Russia are in Donets, Moscow, Pechora, Kuznetsk, Kansk-Achinsk, Irkutsk, and South Yakutsk basins. Most of the production of coal is used to fulfill domestic consumption.
7.South Africa
South Africa is the next biggest country in the African region with huge production of coal. In 2019, statistically, the production of steam coal from Nelson Mandela’s country reaches 249 million tons and coking coal of 3.9 million tons. Geographically, there are some provinces of South Africa that operate coal mining productions. Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Northwest, Western Cape are some of the coal mining areas.
8.Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan becomes one the biggest country of coal production from the Asia Region. Statistically, the production of steam Coal in 2019 reached ninety-eight million tons and coking coal reached 10.4 million tons. This statistical data can show that Kazakhstan is the eighth world’s biggest of steam coal and the ninth biggest of coking coal. Some coal mining areas are spread into Pavlodar and Karaganda cities. Specifically, there are some sites of the biggest coal production. These are Bogatyr Komir Mine, Vostochny Mine, Shubarkol Mine Severny Coal Mine, and Zhalyn Mine.
9.Columbia
Columbia has many deposits of coal. In this country, in 2019, the production of steam coal from Columbia reaches seventy-five million tons. El Cerrejon and la Loma mines are the two biggest areas of coal mining in Columbia.
10.Poland
Poland is the European country besides Russia that has the biggest production of coal. In 2019, the production of steam coal from this country reaches fifty million tons and coking coal reached 30.5 million tons. Its statistical data showed that Poland become the 10th biggest producer of steam coal and the eighth biggest producer of coking coal. In Poland, the coal mining is concentrated mostly in the Upper Silesia Basin, a few of them in Lower Silesia, and Lublin basins.
11. Canada
Canada is the sixth biggest producer of coking coal in 2019. Based on World Mining Data 2021, the production of Coking coal from Canada Reach 33.9 million tons. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Novia Scotia are some provinces in Canada that has the biggest coal mines.
Bibliography of 10 World’s Biggest Coal Producers
International Organizing Committee for The World Mining Congresses. 2021. World Mining Data 2021. Accessed via https://www.world-mining-data.info/?World_Mining_Data___PDF-Files on January 10th, 2022
EIA. Which states produce the most coal? Accessed via https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=69&t=2 on January 16th, 2022.
Australian Government. 2013. Coal. Accessed via https://www.ga.gov.au/data-pubs/data-and-publications-search/publications/australian-minerals-resource-assessment/coal#:~:text=Black%20coal%20resources%20occur%20in,also%20the%20largest%20coal%20producers on January 16th, 2022.
Department of Mineral Resources.2021. Operating Mines. Accessed via https://www.dmr.gov.za/mineral-policy-promotion/operating-mines on January 16th, 2022.
Statista. 2021. Number of coal mines in Canada as of 2017 by province. Accessed via https://www.statista.com/statistics/594207/number-of-coal-mines-in-canada-by-province/ on January 16th, 2022.
