METALLURGICAL COAL FINANCING: Time to call it off

The report highlights a systematic loophole in financial institution policies that exclude thermal coal but continue to fund metallurgical coal, which is essential for primary steelmaking. Despite the International Energy Agency's finding that existing mines are sufficient to meet demand through 2050, 118 companies are planning new projects with a total capacity of 406 Mtpa. Between 2016 and June 2023, banks provided over US$557 billion to the 50 largest metallurgical coal developers. The document argues that technological advances in green hydrogen and electric arc furnaces make a phase-out possible by the early 2040s and urges financial institutions to immediately end dedicated financing and insurance for new metallurgical coal projects.

• Financial institutions have a systematic loophole in their coal policies: while many restrict thermal coal, metallurgical coal—which accounts for approximately 14% of global coal production—is largely left out.
• Existing metallurgical coal production is sufficient to meet global demand through 2050, rendering new projects unnecessary and risky as potential stranded assets.
• Despite the lack of need for new capacity, 118 companies worldwide are planning new projects with a total planned production capacity of 406 Mtpa, representing a 24.1% increase over current capacity.
• Between 2016 and June 2023, banks provided over US$557 billion to the 50 largest metallurgical coal developers; excluding Chinese companies, this amount was US$224 billion.
• The majority of banking support for metallurgical coal expansion is provided through general corporate funding rather than dedicated project financing, which accounts for only 1.4% of the identified financing.
• The steel sector is a major climate driver, responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 11% of global CO2 emissions, primarily due to the blast furnace to basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route using metallurgical coal.
• Metallurgical coal mining poses a severe methane threat; coal mine methane accounts for 11.6% of human-caused methane emissions, and proposed projects could increase these emissions by 7% to 20% by 2030.
• Technological alternatives such as green hydrogen for direct reduction of iron (DRI) and electric arc furnaces (EAF) could allow the steel sector to become coal-free by the early 2040s.
• Current metallurgical coal policies among financial institutions are weak; of 50 banks analyzed, only five have commitments, and none of the 50 investors analyzed have adopted metallurgical coal policies.
• The report identifies significant financial exposure to metallurgical coal developers among major institutions, with Glencore receiving US$122.9 billion from banks and BHP Group receiving US$64.3 billion from investors.

APA

Rocamora, C., Her, H., Miomandre, L., Lassus, J., Pinson, L., Mathieu, A., & Faul, C. (2023). METALLURGICAL COAL FINANCING: Time to call it off. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Reclaim_Finance_Metallurgical_Coal_November_2023.pdf

Chicago

Rocamora, Cynthia, Henri Her, Léa Miomandre, Julie Lassus, Lucie Pinson, Aurore Mathieu, and Clément Faul. METALLURGICAL COAL FINANCING: Time to call it off. Reclaim Finance, 2023. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Reclaim_Finance_Metallurgical_Coal_November_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rocamora |first1=Cynthia |last2=Her |first2=Henri |last3=Miomandre |first3=Léa |last4=Lassus |first4=Julie |last5=Pinson |first5=Lucie |last6=Mathieu |first6=Aurore |last7=Faul |first7=Clément |title=METALLURGICAL COAL FINANCING: Time to call it off |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=November 2023 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Reclaim_Finance_Metallurgical_Coal_November_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rocamora2023metallurgical, author = {Rocamora, Cynthia and Her, Henri and Miomandre, Léa and Lassus, Julie and Pinson, Lucie and Mathieu, Aurore and Faul, Clément}, title = {{METALLURGICAL COAL FINANCING: Time to call it off}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Reclaim_Finance_Metallurgical_Coal_November_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }