DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania’s earnings from coal exports jumped seven times in dollar terms in the year to the end of March from the previous year, central bank data showed, as the Ukraine war drove buyers to hunt for new sources of the fuel.
Tanzania used to sell thermal coal only to neighbouring countries in east Africa, but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year countries in Europe and beyond have vied to pay top dollar for its exports.
The Bank of Tanzania said in its April monthly economic review that coal exports rose to $223.8 million in the year to the end of March from $31.9 million a year earlier, citing “rising demand for alternative energy, amid supply challenges caused by the war in Ukraine”.
Last year Tanzania aimed to export about 700,000 tonnes of coal, double what it did in 2021.
Tanzania’s minerals minister said during a budget speech last month that the government had doubled issuance of coal export permits last year to more than 10,000 permits
Before the Ukraine war, Russia provided about 70% of the European Union’s thermal coal, according to Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel.
But an EU ban on Russian coal imports meant European electricity generators were scrambling for supplies from new markets to get through the winter.
(Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Mark Potter)
