Coal terminals
Coal importing and exporting:
Many countries do not have natural energy resources sufficient to cover their energy needs, and therefore need to import energy to help meet their requirements. Japan, Chinese Taipei and Korea, for example, import significant quantities of steam coal for electricity generation and coking coal for steel production. It is not just a lack of indigenous coal supplies that prompts countries to import coal but also the importance of obtaining specific types of coal. Major coal producers such as China, the USA and India, for example, also import quantities of coal for quality and logistical reasons. The biggest export countries of coal in the world can be seen in the table below:
Top coal import countries in the world are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, The UK, Germany, India, and China. As you can see China is a big exporter of coal and also a big importer of coal. China has therefore enormeous coal harbours. The harbour of Tanggu is the biggest coal import harbour in the world. This picture of Edward Burtynsky was made in this harbour and shows the enormeous amounts of coal that is stored here:
Qinhuangdao is also a major coal loading harbour in China. This harbour is considered to be the world’s largest coal loading port. Strategically placed for transporting coal from the north to the south of China. Fifty percent of the Chinese coal, or some 200 million tons, is handled here every year:
The biggest coal import harbour in India is the coal terminal in Paradip port in India. This is also one of the biggest in the world. China may be the top producer of coal, Australia is the biggest exporter of coal. This country has some enormeous coal export harbours. The biggest of these is in Newcastle, in NSW Australia. Here the biggest coal exporting facility in the world is found, with a capacity of about 100 million tonnes of coal per year.
Another of these huge coal terminals in Australia can be found in Hay Point. Hay Point is a small town located approximately 40 kilometres south of the city of Mackay, Queensland, Australia. It is made up of two bulk coal terminals, Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, and Hay Point Services Coal Terminal. In 2003/4, 77 million tonnes of coal was exported through the two terminals. This makes Hay Point one of the largest coal ports in the world.
South Africa, one of the major coal exporting countries in the world, also has a coal terminal which is considered the world's biggest coal exporting facility. This facility is located in Richard's bay in South Africa. More than a quarter of western Europe's thermal coal is shipped from Richards Bay, which reported total shipments of 66.5 million tons last year.
The largest coal terminal in North America can be found in Vancouver, Canada. This terminal is called the Delta port coal terminal. If we are talking about the biggest in the U.S then this one in Hamton is one of the biggest. (birdview).
