On Monday, data released by the Russian Consulate General in the northeast province of Harbin showed that Russian coal exports to China via the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli railway crossing are up 214% over last year’s numbers.

Supplies exceeded 438,000 tons over the first 40 days of 2023, as over 6,200 freight cars of coal traveled to China, according to the consulate. ‘

China uses Russian coal to generate electricity and heat in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and in the east of the Inner Mongolian autonomous region.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said earlier in the month, that the Kremlin had increased coal supplies to China by 11.2%, shipping 59.5 million tons in 2022. Coking coal used in the steel industry saw shipments more than double from the previous year’s numbers.

Moscow’s boosting of coal exports to China is partly a result of the Kremlin shifting its trade partnerships after the EU imposed an import ban on the country’s coal. As the European market shut to Russian coal sales, Beijing finally fully reopened its economy and dispensed with the Covid restrictions which had been hampering its economy for the last three years, leading to substantially increased demand for coal and other fuels.

It is likely China’s demand for coal will not abate any time soon. According to a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and the Global Energy Monitor (GEM), despite China publicly proclaiming a desire to cut its use of coal to meet climate goals, last year the government approved the construction of the largest number of new coal-fired power plants since 2015.