As of September 1, 2022, the world coal reference price is in the range of USD400 – USD425 per ton. In a year the increase in coal has reached 144.4%. Of course, this increase is very profitable for coal producers.
On the other hand, many people ask about the increase in coal prices, due to the policies of several countries in the world that want to reduce the use of coal. So what really happened?
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, coal producing countries such as Indonesia, India, Australia, China, the United States, and Russia reduced production activities. After the pandemic began to subside, some investors left the coal sector to switch to renewable energy. This is the crucial point, because many analysts and some investors mention that the coal sector including the energy sector will be left behind.
Suddenly in Europe, in February 2022 Russia officially attacked Ukraine for the first time in 2022. This immediately shocked the entire world public. Because as we all know, Russia is a European superpower that can easily destroy Ukraine. With the first attack, commodity prices suddenly increased, starting from world oil, nickel, gold, including coal.
In addition, Russia reduced the supply of gas and electricity to several countries in Europe which caused overstretching of countries in Europe. This is one of the factors that coal prices have again become a favorite, plus China needs coal supplies for factory productions after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Then, until when the price of coal rises?
Of course, no one can predict for sure, what is clear is that every time there is an increase, there must be a decrease. As long as the reserves and production of coal producers are still stable, of course, big investors will continue to collect coal commodities through coal producer stocks.