Thermal coal: Relationships

Every element and industry that Thermal coal is linked to, and how. Each pair has its own card explaining the relationships between the two.

Coal mining: Thermal coal is what most coal mines sell, so mine output and power station demand move together. In India the link runs through Coal India, which mined about 74% of the country's coal in 2024-25 and sells most of it to power plants on long contracts at prices set at home rather than by the seaborne market. (researched)
Coal transport: Thermal coal is heavy and cheap per tonne, so moving it can cost nearly as much as the coal itself: Coal India said in 2020 that rail freight was about 40 to 45% of the landed cost at the plant. That makes rail capacity, freight tariffs and loading infrastructure as important to coal supply as mine output. (researched)
Methanol: China makes most of its methanol, the world's largest share, by gasifying coal, so Chinese coal costs shape the marginal tonne in Asia; the route is cheap where coal is cheap but emits several times more carbon than gas, and India now plans to copy it. (researched)
PVC: Most Chinese PVC is made from coal through calcium carbide and acetylene, an electricity-hungry, mercury-dependent route, so Chinese coal and power costs shape the price of much of the PVC that India imports. (researched)
Aluminium: Most aluminium in India and China is smelted with coal-fired captive power, so coal sets much of its cost and most of its carbon footprint; that footprint now carries a price at the EU border from 2026. (researched)
Ammonia: About a quarter of the world's ammonia is made by gasifying coal, almost all of it in China, where coal is cheaper and more secure than gas. India is trying the same route to cut LNG imports for urea, but its first plant at Talcher has been delayed and was targeting commissioning by December 2027. (researched)
Coking coal: Coking and thermal coal come from the same basins and sometimes the same mines, and the lower grades of metallurgical coal (semi-soft and PCI) can be sold either to steelmakers or to power stations. That makes the price gap between the two the thing to watch: it normally favours coking coal, but it inverted in mid-2022 and miners switched coal to the thermal market. (researched)
Monoethylene glycol: About two fifths of China's glycol capacity now runs on coal-based syngas rather than ethylene, so Chinese coal costs help set the floor for Asian MEG prices that Indian polyester makers pay. (researched)
Solar photovoltaics: Solar and coal compete to supply the same grids: solar met 75% of world demand growth in 2025 while coal output fell, and in India cheap solar now takes coal's daytime hours while coal is kept for evenings, so solar's growth squeezes how much each coal plant runs. (researched)
Steam turbines and thermal power plants: Thermal coal is the fuel and steam turbine plants are the machines that turn it into most of India's electricity: at CEA's normative heat rates an older Indian unit burns roughly 0.6 to 0.7 kg of domestic coal per kWh, so coal demand moves with plant load factor, while turbine orders follow state planning rather than coal prices. (researched)
Acetic acid: Thermal coal is a raw material for acetic acid; their prices have moved together.
Activated carbon: Thermal coal is a raw material for activated carbon.
Ammonium nitrate: Their prices have moved together.
Antibiotic intermediates (6-APA, 7-ACA): Their prices have moved together.
Biomass: Their prices have moved together.
Biomass combustion and CHP: Their prices have moved together.
Boiler heat recovery: Their prices have moved together.
Building materials: Building materials depends on thermal coal.
Cement: Their prices have moved together.
Construction and infrastructure: Construction and infrastructure depends on thermal coal.
Crude oil: Their prices have moved together.
Energy in buildings: Their prices have moved together.
Energy-intensive industry: Their prices have moved together.
Fuel stocks and strategic reserves: Fuel stocks and strategic reserves needs thermal coal.
Gypsum: Their prices have moved together.
Household and personal care: Household and personal care depends on thermal coal.
Hydrogen: Thermal coal is a raw material for hydrogen.
LNG chain: Their prices have moved together.
Metal products: Metal products depends on thermal coal.
Natural gas: Their prices have moved together.
Nickel: Their prices have moved together.
Nitrogen (ammonia): Their prices have moved together.
Paper and packaging: Paper and packaging depends on thermal coal.
Pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceuticals depends on thermal coal.
Polysilicon: Thermal coal is a raw material for polysilicon.
Soda ash: Their prices have moved together.
Textiles and leather: Textiles and leather depends on thermal coal.
Tobacco: Their prices have moved together.
Vinyl chloride monomer: Their prices have moved together.