The Economics of Coking Coal Mining: A Fossil Fuel Still Needed for Steel Production

Coking coal has been on the European list of critical raw materials since 2014 due to its high economic importance and high supply risk. In 2017, coking coal narrowly missed passing the threshold of economic importance. However, out of caution, it remained on the list of critical raw materials, as the steel industry still needs it. It is likely to be phased out of the list below when it does not fully meet the required criteria. As there are no significant alternatives for this energy intensive industry and neither electrification nor material or energy efficiency improvements are yet available at a sufficient level of technological readiness, the European Union remains dependent on coking coal imports. Therefore, any coking coal mining project in Europe is of great importance and an important alternative to solving the problems of providing this raw material. In this study, the Debiensko coking coal project in Poland is analyzed using a scientifically proven methodology based on world-class analysis of coking coal projects submitted for financing to financial institutions.

Automated summary

Coking coal has been included in the list of critical raw materials in Europe since 2014 due to its economic importance and high supply risk. Despite narrowly missing the threshold of economic importance in 2017, it remains on the list as the steel industry still requires it. There are no significant alternatives for coking coal in the energy intensive industry, leading the European Union to be dependent on imports. Therefore, any coking coal mining project in Europe is considered important as an alternative solution to the supply issues.