Japanese power companies and paper manufacturers are racing to find substitutes to Russian coal, after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday the country will phase out the imports over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Though Russia produces only around 5% of the world's coal, it counts as Japan's second biggest supplier of the fuel. Russian coal imported by Japan has doubled in volume over the past decade.
Russia accounted for 15% of Japan's coal imports in 2020, according to Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., the state-owned resource explorer known as JOGMEC. Australia is the top coal exporter to resource-poor Japan at 67%.
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