Coking coal: Criticality

Why the EU and US list it as critical

What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.

Exposure by region

Region	Exposure	Share of world output	Share of world imports	Share of world exports	Net trade (US$)	On own critical list	Position
US	Low	6.2%	0.5%	5.3%	+$462.5 m	Yes	Mined 64.8 Mt of coking coal in 2024 (World Mining Data) and is a net exporter; metallurgical coal was added to the US 2025 critical minerals list and made up 57% of the value of US critical-mineral production in 2025 (USGS MCS 2026).
EU	Low	1.1%	25.2%	33.3%	+$891.8 m	Yes	Listed as a critical raw material (EU 2023) with 66% import reliance; Poland is the main producer at 11.3 Mt in 2024 (EU CRM study 2023; World Mining Data).
India	High	6.3%	17.4%	0.5%	−$1.56 bn	No	Mined 65.7 Mt in 2024 but imported 57.6 Mt of coking coal in FY2025 and is the largest coke importer; coking coal is not on India's 2023 critical minerals list (World Mining Data; Ministry of Coal; UN Comtrade).
China	Low	49.4%	0.3%	19.8%	+$1.89 bn	Yes	Produced 519 Mt in 2024, 49% of the world, and also imports heavily from Mongolia and Russia; Mongolia's output of 75.8 Mt went mostly to China (World Mining Data; Energy Institute trade flows).
Japan	Low	0.0%	2.9%	5.0%	+$216.2 m	No	No domestic production; its steel industry imports all its coking coal, mostly from Australia (Energy Institute trade flows).
Latin America	Low	0.7%	13.3%	11.5%	−$122.5 m	no list	Small producer (Colombia 6.5 Mt in 2024) and Colombia exports coke; Brazil is a major coke importer (12.1% of 2024 import value) and also uses charcoal in small blast furnaces (World Mining Data; UN Comtrade; Smil).
Middle East	Low	0.2%	0.5%	0.0%	−$42.4 m	no list	Minimal coking coal use; the region makes steel mainly from gas-based DRI; Iran mined 1.7 Mt in 2024 (World Mining Data).
Australia	Low	12.5%	1.6%	2.4%	+$87.7 m	No	Largest seaborne supplier; output fell from 183.8 Mt in 2020 to 131.3 Mt in 2024 (World Mining Data).

Exposure rating: High when the region is a net importer whose import share is at least three times its share of world output (or, for farm goods, it produces under 70% of what it consumes); Medium for other net importers (or 70-95% self-sufficiency), raised to High when world supply is highly concentrated in another country; Low for net exporters or self-sufficient regions. Net importer status uses tonnage where reported, otherwise value. Output: World Mining Data, 2024. Trade: UN Comtrade 2024 (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

The EU lists coking coal as critical: supply risk 1.0, economic importance 3.1, 66% import reliance and zero recycling input. The US added metallurgical coal to its 2025 critical minerals list. India's 2023 list omits it, although India imports most of its coking coal. The reason is weak substitutability. Blast furnaces need coke's strength to bear the charge, and charcoal is too fragile for large furnaces (Smil). Injected coal trims coke use, each tonne displacing 0.85-0.95 tonnes (Smil). Scrap-based electric furnaces and hydrogen reduction are the real alternatives, and both are scaling slowly.

EU 2023 Critical US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list No Production HHI 2,849 highly concentrated

EU 2023 assessment

Chart: EU 2023 criticality: supply risk against economic importance

Each dot is a material assessed by the EU in 2023. The shaded corner is the critical zone (supply risk ≥ 1.0, economic importance ≥ 2.8). Coking coal: supply risk 1, economic importance 3.1. EU import reliance, extraction 66% EU import reliance, processing 0% EU recycling input rate 0%