# Coking coal: Abundance

One tonne in eight of all coal is the coking kind

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/abundance/

What this tab covers How much of this energy there is: the natural flow or stock, the share that could be harnessed, and how much is used today, compared with world primary energy use (592 EJ in 2024).

About 1.1 billion tonnes are mined a year, roughly an eighth of all coal, with an energy content equal to about 5% of world primary energy use.
 A stock: finite on human time scales

#### How much there is

| Measure | Value | Compared with world energy use | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Metallurgical coal production** | 1,134 million tonnes (2024)^[4](https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-and-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/coal-facts/20071) | about 32 EJ at 28.2 GJ/t, roughly 5% of world primary energy use (calculated) | Stable at around 1 billion tonnes a year from 2015 to 2024. |
| **Coal used in steelmaking** | about 1.2 billion tonnes^[3](https://steel.org.au/getattachment/458fa31b-2586-47bb-a645-9411140863dd/WSA_fact_raw_materials_2018.pdf) | about 15% of world coal consumption | worldsteel estimate (2018 fact sheet). |
| **Seaborne and cross-border trade** | 369 million tonnes (2024, record)^[5](https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-mid-year-update-2025/trade) |  | Natural Resources Canada gives 363 Mt. The IEA projects 345 Mt for 2025. |
| **Hard coal reserves (coking coal is a subset)** | 608 billion tonnes of coal equivalent (end-2016)^[6](https://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Energie/Downloads/energiestudie_2017_en.pdf%3F__blob=publicationFile&v=2) | 17,820 EJ (BGR), about 30 times world energy use (calculated); only a fraction is of coking quality | Global coking-coal reserves are not reported separately. BGR's later editions were not accessible for checking. |
| **World crude steel output** | 1.885 billion tonnes (2024)^[7](https://gmk.center/en/news/the-share-of-eaf-in-global-steel-production-in-2024-increased-to-29-1/) |  | 70.4% made by the blast-furnace route that needs coke. |

Using the 592 EJ baseline for 2024 (Energy Institute Statistical Review 2025), coking coal is a modest energy flow, about 32 EJ. Its importance lies in what it does: it underpins about 70% of the world's steel. Geologically it is scarcer than steam coal. Only some seams have the right caking behaviour, low ash and low sulphur, and global statistics fold it into hard coal, so there is no reliable world reserve figure for it alone.

A simple check: 1.885 Gt of steel times 70.4% by the blast-furnace route times 0.8 t of coal per tonne gives about 1.06 Gt, close to reported production.

#### Sources

1. [Fact sheet: Steel and raw materials](https://steel.org.au/getattachment/458fa31b-2586-47bb-a645-9411140863dd/WSA_fact_raw_materials_2018.pdf) World Steel Association (copy hosted by Australian Steel Institute), 2018
2. [Coal facts](https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-and-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/coal-facts/20071) Natural Resources Canada, 2025
3. [Coal Mid-Year Update 2025: Trade](https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-mid-year-update-2025/trade) IEA, 2025
4. [Energy Study 2017: Data and Developments Concerning German and Global Energy Supplies (Table 2, reserves and resources at end-2016)](https://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Energie/Downloads/energiestudie_2017_en.pdf%3F__blob=publicationFile&v=2) BGR (German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources), 2017
5. [The share of EAF in global steel production in 2024 increased to 29.1% (citing worldsteel, World Steel in Figures 2025)](https://gmk.center/en/news/the-share-of-eaf-in-global-steel-production-in-2024-increased-to-29-1/) GMK Center, 2025

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/index.md)
- [Energy overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/energy/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/correlation/index.md)
- [How energy resides](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/resides/index.md)
- [Fluctuation in time](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/time/index.md)
- [Across the Earth](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/geography/index.md)
- [Impact on nature](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/nature/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/overview/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/coking_coal/links/index.md)