The regional economic report of the Russian Central Bank in July 2026 revealed that the mining output in the Far East hit a new decade high from April to May. The rising demand for Asian procurement coupled with the tense situation in the Middle East has led to a surge in coal exports from Far Eastern ports, as the export price of thermal coal reached a nearly two-year high in mid June.

Dual support of price driven and order fulfillment

The Russian central bank pointed out in the report that coal enterprises expanding production capacity not only benefits from the positive market conditions, but also provides support for increasing production through upgrading production facilities to fulfill long-term export contracts. Since March, the export prices of thermal coal from Far Eastern ports have continued to rise, with the core reason being that many Asian countries have increased their coal procurement volume - the prices of alternative energy such as LNG have skyrocketed, and Asian buyers have turned to purchasing a large amount of coal. At the end of June, although coal prices slightly decreased, they were still about one-third higher than the price in January and February 2026, and higher than the average in 2025. The Far East CFR quotation for Q5500 thermal coal remained in the range of $97 to $99 per ton at one point.

The export data synchronization confirms the price signal. From January to June 2026, Russia's railway transportation exported 93.9 million tons of coal, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. Among them, the export shipment volume in June was 16.9 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 19.6%. Far Eastern ports transported 9.6 million tons of coal in June, a year-on-year increase of 14.4%.

Logistics bottlenecks still exist

In May 2026, Siberian coal production continued to rise compared to April, with year-on-year growth rates turning positive for the first time in six months. The analysis by the Russian central bank suggests that the rebound in global energy demand driving export volume is key to the recovery of production areas. The coal export volume of Kuzbass, Russia's largest coal producing area, surged by 19.9% year-on-year in May, with a year-on-year increase of 13.5% in the first two months. Keywords: coal mining, railway transportation

However, some regions still face logistics constraints: a large coal mining enterprise in the Republic of Buryatia has temporarily reduced its export volume due to a shortage of railway cars, and can only use road transportation to transport coal to other railway stations to fulfill its obligations. The freight volume of Far Eastern ports reached a historic high in May, with coal, grain, refined oil, and container cargo being the main drivers of growth.Editor/Cheng Liting