Which grade do Pakistani buyers take?

The power plants at Port Qasim and Hub were designed around South African 5,500 to 6,000 NAR coal and Indonesian sub-bituminous blends and buy on term contracts. The cement kilns are the spot market: they burn RB2 and RB3, Indonesian 5,000 to 5,800 GAR and Mozambican coal, choosing by delivered cost per gigacalorie after the rail or truck leg to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Tell us the kiln's ash and sulphur limits and we work back to the grade.

What parcel sizes are workable into Port Qasim?

Supramax and Panamax cargoes of 50,000 to 75,000 t at PIBT, which discharges two vessels at once on a 13 m draft and clears a 60,000 t ship in under two days. Cement companies often share a Panamax between two or three plants; a mill taking 20,000 to 30,000 t a month is a part-cargo buyer and is priced as one.

What certificates travel with the cargo?

SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas sampling and analysis at the load port: gross and net calorific value on the as-received basis, total moisture, ash, volatile matter, sulphur, HGI and size distribution, with draft survey quantity at both ends and the mine or loading terminal named on the certificate of origin. Payment terms usually settle against the load-port certificate with a price adjustment formula for calorific value and penalties for ash and sulphur outside the band.

Can CBIL also fix the ship?

Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices Supramax and Panamax tonnage from Richards Bay, Beira, Nacala and the Kalimantan anchorages to Port Qasim, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.

Indian Ocean · Pakistan

Steam Coal Suppliers CFR Port Qasim and Karachi, Pakistan

South African and Indonesian coal for the Port Qasim power plants and the cement kilns of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pakistan declared 5,924,000 t of HS 2701 coal imports in 2024 at an average USD 113 per tonne: South Africa supplied 3,541,800 t, Tanzania 614,200 t, Indonesia 424,800 t and the United States 400,800 t. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported 10.95 million tonnes for the July 2025 to June 2026 fiscal year, up 3.93 million tonnes, and in the first half of calendar 2026 Pakistan took 4.3 million tonnes from South Africa and Mozambique alone, behind only India as a destination for those two exporters. The demand is in two places: the imported-coal power plants at Port Qasim and Hub, which buy on term contracts, and the cement industry, whose northern kilns moved to seaborne coal from late 2025 and whose southern plants at Karachi and Hub have always burned it. Almost all of it lands at the Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT) at Port Qasim, opened in 2017, with a 460 m quay, two ship unloaders of 1,850 t/h each, 13 m permissible draft, a million tonnes of coal storage and rail and road loading for the inland plants; it discharges a 60,000 t vessel in under two days.

CBIL brokers Richards Bay RB1 (6,000 kcal/kg NAR, 15% ash, 1% sulphur max) and RB2/RB3 grades, Indonesian 5,800, 5,000 and 4,200 GAR coal from Kalimantan, Mozambican thermal coal loading Beira and Nacala, and US high-sulphur and low-sulphur steam coal, in Supramax and Panamax parcels CFR Port Qasim and Karachi, sized to the PIBT draft on the laycan. Every cargo ships against an independent inspector's certificate at load (calorific value ARB and NAR, total moisture, ash, volatile matter, sulphur, HGI, size) with the mine or loading terminal named on the certificate of origin. A requirement that states the buyer, the grade band, the parcel size, the discharge terminal and the LC bank gets a firm answer; one without them gets a question first.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices coal and petcoke bulk freight on LaycanDesk.

The market in figures

Declared imports, 2024: 5,924,000 t, USD 668 million (FY 2025-26: 10.95 million t)
Largest seaborne origins, 2024: South Africa 60% · Tanzania 10% · Indonesia 7% · United States 7%
H1 2026 from South Africa and Mozambique: 4.3 million t (India 20.58 Mt, China 2.9 Mt)
Discharge terminal: PIBT, Port Qasim: 460 m quay, 13 m draft, 2 x 1,850 t/h unloaders, 1 Mt coal storage, 12 Mt/yr coal capacity
Grade bands: RB1 6,000 NAR · RB2/RB3 · Indonesian 5,800 / 5,000 / 4,200 GAR · Mozambique thermal · US steam coal

Official trade data; sources listed below. Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.

Questions buyers ask

Which grade do Pakistani buyers take?: The power plants at Port Qasim and Hub were designed around South African 5,500 to 6,000 NAR coal and Indonesian sub-bituminous blends and buy on term contracts. The cement kilns are the spot market: they burn RB2 and RB3, Indonesian 5,000 to 5,800 GAR and Mozambican coal, choosing by delivered cost per gigacalorie after the rail or truck leg to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Tell us the kiln's ash and sulphur limits and we work back to the grade.
What parcel sizes are workable into Port Qasim?: Supramax and Panamax cargoes of 50,000 to 75,000 t at PIBT, which discharges two vessels at once on a 13 m draft and clears a 60,000 t ship in under two days. Cement companies often share a Panamax between two or three plants; a mill taking 20,000 to 30,000 t a month is a part-cargo buyer and is priced as one.
What certificates travel with the cargo?: SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas sampling and analysis at the load port: gross and net calorific value on the as-received basis, total moisture, ash, volatile matter, sulphur, HGI and size distribution, with draft survey quantity at both ends and the mine or loading terminal named on the certificate of origin. Payment terms usually settle against the load-port certificate with a price adjustment formula for calorific value and penalties for ash and sulphur outside the band.
Can CBIL also fix the ship?: Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices Supramax and Panamax tonnage from Richards Bay, Beira, Nacala and the Kalimantan anchorages to Port Qasim, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.

Sources

UN Comtrade, reporter 586 (Pakistan), HS 2701, imports, 2024: world 5,924,000 t, USD 668.1 million, USD 113/t; South Africa 3,541,800 t at USD 117; Tanzania 614,200 t at USD 110; Indonesia 424,800 t at USD 122; USA 400,800 t at USD 106 (desk pull of the public preview API, 28 Sep 2026).
The Express Tribune, 'Coal, soybean seeds drive import surge' (PBS FY2025-26 data): coal imports 10.95 million t, up 3.93 million t.
Freight News (South Africa), 6 Jul 2026, 'SA, Mozambique coal exports rebound': South Africa 35.66 Mt and Mozambique 9.70 Mt exported January-June 2026; India 20.58 Mt (45.2%), Pakistan 4.3 Mt, China 2.9 Mt.
Global Cement, 'Border closure halts coal imports and cement exports' (Oct 2025): northern Pakistani cement producers moved to imported South African, Indonesian and Mozambican coal.
CemNet, D.G. Khan Cement briefing: the company expects to rely largely on imported coal at about USD 90-100 per tonne (company statement, 2025; market reference only, not a CBIL quote).
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal, pibt.com.pk: coal 12 million t/yr and cement/clinker 4 million t/yr; quay wall 460 m plus dolphins, two vessels simultaneously; permissible draft 13 m; two ship unloaders 1,850 t/h each; conveyor 3,600 t/h; coal storage up to 1 million t.
Global Energy Monitor, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal: first coal cargo May 2017; CFO quoted that the terminal discharges a 60,000 t coal vessel in under two days.
globalCOAL RB Index and RB1 specification: 6,000 kcal/kg NAR nominal (5,850 min), total moisture 12% max, ash 15% max, sulphur 1% max, volatiles 22% min, HGI 45-70. Argus/Coalindo ICI bands: ICI 2 5,800 GAR / 5,500 NAR; ICI 3 5,000 GAR / 4,600 NAR; ICI 4 4,200 GAR / 3,800 NAR.