Kazakhstan coal exports rise 5% as shipments shift toward Europe and Asia
Kazakhstan exported 12.6 million tonnes of coal in January-May 2026, up 5% year on year, even as production fell 1.8%. Shipments rose sharply to the Netherlands, Malaysia, Poland and Uzbekistan, while purchases by Russia and India declined.
Exports grow despite lower production
Kazakhstan increased coal exports in the first five months of 2026 even as domestic output declined, according to Lada.kz, citing LS. The country exported 12.6 million tonnes in January-May, 5% more than in the same period of 2025. Suppliers earned $300 million from these shipments.
Production of hard coal, including lignite and coal concentrate, totaled 45 million tonnes over the same period. Output was down 1.8% year on year. The opposing movements in production and exports indicate that foreign sales absorbed a larger share of available supply during the period.
The average value implied by the reported export volume and revenue was approximately $23.8 per tonne. This is a broad calculation rather than a quoted market price, as the total includes different coal grades, destinations and delivery terms.
European and Asian destinations gain volume
The largest proportional increase was recorded in shipments to the Netherlands. Deliveries rose 11.3-fold to 477,900 tonnes. Malaysia purchased 724,800 tonnes, 6.3 times the year-earlier volume. Poland increased imports of Kazakh coal 1.7-fold to 2.3 million tonnes, while shipments to Uzbekistan rose 1.6-fold to 916,600 tonnes.
Turkey also expanded purchases, raising volumes by 12.8% to 1.2 million tonnes. Kazakhstan added Germany, Croatia, Georgia and Azerbaijan to its list of destinations in January-May 2026; the source reported no exports to those markets in the corresponding period of 2025.
Other routes contracted sharply. India bought 685,400 tonnes in January-May 2025 and ranked among the five largest buyers, but received only 70 tonnes in the first five months of 2026. Shipments to Kyrgyzstan fell 31.3% to 170,600 tonnes. Exports to Italy decreased 2.1-fold to 56,800 tonnes, while deliveries to Latvia fell 4.7-fold to 28,600 tonnes.
Russia remained the largest buyer, although the reporting period differs from the five-month figures used for other destinations. Lada.kz reported that Kazakhstan shipped 6.3 million tonnes to Russia over six months, down 12% from the comparable period. The source also said Russia, China and India reduced purchases, without providing a volume for China.
Domestic prices rise as production targets expand
Coal prices increased inside Kazakhstan in June 2026. Data from the Bureau of National Statistics showed that the producer price of hard coal reached 10,800 tenge per tonne, up 4.3% from the previous month. Lignite rose 3.2% to 7,600 tenge per tonne.
The government expects a substantial production increase over the full year. Vice Minister of Energy Yerlan Akbarov previously said Kazakhstan planned to mine 128.9 million tonnes of coal in 2026 and export 29.5 million tonnes. The country also intends to implement a national coal-fired generation development project by 2030, with an estimated minimum cost of 7.5 trillion tenge. Meeting the annual targets would require production to accelerate after the 1.8% decline recorded in January-May, while exporters manage a destination mix that has shifted markedly within Europe and Asia.
