For most steelmaking, bituminous coal is the one that matters. A specific type of bituminous coal, called coking or metallurgical coal, is turned into coke, the fuel and reducing agent of the blast furnace. Anthracite has more carbon, but it does not soften and fuse when heated, so it cannot make coke. Steel mills use

Coal power is shrinking in some regions and still growing in others. Europe and North America are closing coal plants, while China, India and parts of Southeast Asia continue to rely on coal for a large share of their electricity. Globally, coal demand remains close to record levels: about 8.84 billion tonnes in 2025 and

Coal is graded by rank: lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. Rank shows how far the coal has matured underground. Higher-rank coal has more carbon, less moisture and more energy per tonne. Lignite sits at the bottom, anthracite at the top. The best grade is not always the highest. Power plants, cement kilns and steel mills

The right coal for your plant is the one your equipment was designed to burn, at the lowest delivered cost per unit of energy. Industrial boilers, cement kilns, brick kilns and steel furnaces each need different coal properties. Picking coal on price per tonne alone often leads to lower efficiency, more maintenance and higher real

Steelmakers source coal very differently from power plants. A blast furnace depends on a carefully designed blend of coking coals, plus PCI coal, and small changes in quality can affect coke strength and furnace output. Good sourcing starts with a precise specification and continues with qualified suppliers, solid contracts and independent inspection. 1. Define what