BOGOTA — Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Saturday that his country will suspend coal exports to Israel as a rebuke against its deadly war against Hamas in Gaza.
Colombia is Israel’s main coal supplier, with exports of some $450 million in 2023, according to the Israeli Embassy in Bogota, which remains operational despite Petro’s government severing diplomatic ties in May.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president and a fierce critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Saturday on X that coal exports to Israel would be suspended “until the genocide stops.”
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I am skeptical that this is gonna have a huge impact.
According to this, 3 million tons a year go from Colombia to Israel.
This is thermal coal, not the (rarer, purer) metallurgical coal.
Israel imports more than 50 per cent of its coal from Colombia, according to the American Journal for Transportation, and uses much of it to feed its power plants.
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Israel isn’t huge, so one doesn’t have to come up with a lot of replacement coal.
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Coal is fungible, and when shipped by ship, doesn’t have the kind of transportation limitations that gave Russian pipelines, for example, influence over Europe’s natural gas supply. Anyone can buy from anyone. If anyone is willing to sell to Israel, then Columbia’s exports go elsewhere to fill the additional demand that gets created for their coal.
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There isn’t any kind of a unified bloc with control of coal, which makes it a hard commodity to cut someone off from. The US, Australia, China, Russia, India, and Germany are all major coal producers.
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The US in particular, which I expect probably isn’t gonna cut Israel off, has a ton of coal.
https://www.mining-technology.com/features/feature-the-worlds-biggest-coal-reserves-by-country/
More than 90% of the world’s total proved coal reserves are located in just ten countries. The US tops the list holding more than one-fifth of the total proven coal reserves, while China, which ranks third, is the biggest producer and consumer of coal.
US thermal coal exports hit 5-year highs and top $5 billion in 2023 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=66&t=2
The US exports about 100 million tons of coal a year.
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/update/coal-stocks.php
Total U.S. coal stockpiles increased by 5.1% to 134 million tons compared to the previous month
I found another article about his on middleeasteye providing some extra context
Colombia is Israel’s primary coal supplier, accounting for 60 percent of all the country’s coal imports in 2023, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data.
Ynet news has reported that Israel has been quick to seek alternative suppliers and reportedly has “received positive responses from South Africa and Russia”, but will have to pay a higher premium on its coal imports.
“In the immediate term, they have reserves, so it’s not going to lead to energy outages, but it will have an economic impact long term, and joined by others, it will have the effect of impacting their energy production capabilities,” a Global Energy Embargo spokesperson told Middle East Eye. “If these other countries are taking action, that’s going to have a massive knock on effect.”
The coalition is now turning its attention to South Africa, where it will begin to mobilise to halt coal exports after the new government has been formed.
“We urgently call on South Africa, which provides nine percent of Israel’s coal, to follow Colombia’s lead,” the group said. t is also looking to stop crude oil exports from Brazil.)
60% of an import is pretty huge number. Israel will be able to find alternatives but it’s going to cost them.
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