KEY THEMES
Coal prices continued to trend upward in 2021 on the back of rebounding global demand. Demand for thermal coal, as well as metallurgical coke, sent prices to multi-year highs. This comes due to perceived higher demand for electricity generation in addition to higher demand in adjacent value chains. Coal is a very important commodity; it is used for a variety of vital purposes that include, but is not limited to, power generation, urea production, and cement manufacturing as well as the uses of met coke in steel industry, especially in blast furnaces designed capacities. Higher coal prices often serve as an important stabilizer for the price of a number of commodities that utilize it as part of their production.