Coal Extends Rally on Mideast Disruptions in Commodity News 20/03/2026 Coal prices surged above $140 per ton, reaching their highest levels since October 2024, as prolonged disruptions to global oil and gas flows stemming from the Middle East conflict pushed power generators in major economies to rely more heavily on coal for electricity. Soaring natural gas prices are driving European countries to increase coal-fired generation despite rising output from renewable sources. European gas futures have climbed to three-year highs after Iran launched attacks on Qatar’s largest LNG export facility in response to an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field. In Australia, New South Wales announced a ban on new coal mine applications as part of its net zero targets, further tightening supply. NSW exports most of its thermal coal to power stations in Japan, China, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Indonesia has moved to allow miners to boost output following the recent price surge triggered by disruptions linked to the Iran conflict. Source: Trading Economics 2026-03-20 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share