South Africa boosts coal exports to Israel

South African miners are boosting thermal coal exports to Israel after top supplier Colombia in August ordered a total ban on shipments of the power-generation fuel to Israel, data from Kpler, LSEG and DBX Commodities showed.

Colombia and South Africa are among Israel’s most vociferous critics, with the South American nation’s presidential decree enacting the export ban after accusing Israel of killing tens of thousands in Gaza including children. South Africa has accused Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice, a claim Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.

Colombian coal exports to Israel dropped to zero in the three months ended November, data from analytics firm Kpler showed, after Bogota doubled down on an earlier ban and blocked supplies under long-term deals.

Meanwhile, South Africa boosted exports by 87% to 474,000 metric tons in the three months to November on an annual basis, and is set to ship nearly 170,000 tons this month, the data showed.

Coal exports to Israel rose 20% to 667,442 tons in the three months to October – the highest for a three-month period since February 2017, latest official data from the South African Revenue Service showed.

“Four words explain this profound hypocrisy: talk left, walk right,” said Patrick Bond, director at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Change, who tracks coal exports from South Africa to Israel.

More than a dozen South Africa-based coal exporters have been shipping electricity-grade coal to Israel since 2023, Bond said, with Kpler data showing that all cargoes imported by Israel since September came from South Africa.

South Africa’s mines ministry did not respond to requests seeking comment. Trade Minister Parks Tau said last year that sanctions against Israel would expose the country to a legal challenge under World Trade Organization rules.

Colombia, also a WTO member, has not been challenged following its implementation of the ban.

South African exports surge

South Africa has boosted shipments to Israel over the last four years and its 2025 coal exports will be the highest since 2017, with its share in Israel’s seaborne coal market set to more than triple from 2024 levels to 55%, Kpler data showed.

Still, Colombia would account for 42% of Israel’s 2 million tons of coal imports this year, according to the data. Exports by Russia, which accounted for nearly a quarter of Israel-bound coal shipments in 2024, amounted to just one cargo of 55,000 tons, making up less than 3% of the market.

“I would expect the trend of Colombian exports to Israel to remain close to zero in the short to mid-term,” said Alexandre Claude, CEO of London-based DBX Commodities.

“Colombia will redirect slightly more of its coal to other buyers. The country already has a highly diversified portfolio,” he said.

Israel’s economy and energy ministries did not respond to requests seeking comment. A senior official at state-run Israel Electric Co said the country would stop using coal as a major power source by 2027.

“The era of coal is finished in Israel. We will stop importing coal and use natural gas as a main source of energy and coal will be a backup in case of emergency,” the official said.

• (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore, Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Nelson Banya in Cape Town; Editing by Jamie Freed)