Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference on Thursday that Russia is considering further expanding energy supplies to various Asian countries, including India and China.
Leonid Khazanov, an independent industry expert, said that Russia is interested in boosting coal exports to India and China. In his opinion, there are prospects for Russian coal supplies to Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, Taiwan and Turkiye.
"In the next ten years the volume of Russian coal exports to India may reach 80 million tons, and to Vietnam - 40-50 million tons. Such a forecast is conditioned by the pace of development of Asian states, their energy programs, the growth rate of population and industry," Khazanov said.
Akhmed Aliyev, an analyst at BKS Investment World, expressed a similar view. "In our opinion, India could be a promising market for Russian coking coal," he said.
In September, Nikolai Shulginov, the head of Russia's Energy Ministry, said that Russian coal exports had increased by over 3% compared to 2022, while production had risen by almost 1%.