Global coal buildout puts thermal trade in focus
By Industry Queensland
A new report says countries added near-record coal-fired capacity in 2025 though actual coal generation fell.
The Queensland Resources Council has described coal as Queensland’s most important export. State Government figures list coal exports worth around $45.8 billion for the 12 months to May 2025.
The Global Energy Monitor Boom and Bust Coal 2026 report said the world built more coal power but used it less in 2025, with global coal power capacity up 3.5 per cent while coal-fired generation fell 0.6 per cent.
Main image: Blackwater mine image from Whitehaven Coal website. Blackwater mine produces steelmaking and thermal coal.
It said the divergence was most pronounced in China and India, where coal capacity expanded even as coal-fired generation declined.
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The report said 97.4GW of coal-fired capacity was commissioned worldwide in 2025, the second-highest annual total on record. China accounted for 78.1GW and India 10GW, leaving only 9.2GW commissioned outside the two countries.
It said coal power development also became more concentrated. Capacity under development rose from 633GW in 2024 to 710GW in 2025, but the number of countries proposing or building coal plants fell from 38 to 32.
The report said the shrinking spread showed coal expansion was increasingly driven by policy choices in a limited group of countries, rather than broad global demand.
The Queensland-relevant distinction is metallurgical coal, which underpins the state’s Bowen Basin export strength and is tied to steelmaking.
Figures how Queensland produced more than 224 million tonnes of coal from 59 active mines in the 12 months to May 2025, with metallurgical coal making up about 61 per cent and thermal coal about 39 per cent.
That places thermal output at more than 87 million tonnes, used for power generation and heat rather than steelmaking.
That trade is moved through Queensland’s coal export chain, including bulk ports at Gladstone, Hay Point and Abbot Point, with Brisbane also handling coal exports.
Central Queensland’s major thermal coal markets include Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Malaysia.
