Commodity prices · Energy
Australian coal price
Is Australian thermal coal expensive by its own standards? The World Bank's monthly price, against the five years before it and every month since January 1970.
High 62nd percentile of the five years before
Above its own recent range, though not at an extreme. September 2026 was the highest since September 2023.
Monthly average for , the latest month the World Bank has published. Not a live quote.
Data last updated . Checked daily.
Against its own history
A year earlierSeptember 2025
$106.3
US dollars per tonne
Five years before60 months
$98.6–430.8
lowest and highest month, September 2021 to August 2026
12-month averageto September 2026
$126.3
+8.9% on the 12 months before
Record monthsince 1970
$430.8
in September 2022; the lowest was $7.8, in January 1970
Australian coal price, monthly average
US dollars per tonne, since January 2000. Not adjusted for inflation.
Year by year average, high and low month for the last 15 years
| Year | Average | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 131.9 | 147.1 | 109.8 |
| 2025 | 108.4 | 118.6 | 98.6 |
| 2024 | 136.2 | 146.6 | 124.2 |
| 2023 | 172.8 | 318.0 | 126.8 |
| 2022 | 344.9 | 430.8 | 197.0 |
| 2021 | 138.0 | 224.5 | 86.7 |
| 2020 | 60.8 | 83.0 | 50.1 |
| 2019 | 77.9 | 98.6 | 65.6 |
| 2018 | 107.0 | 119.6 | 93.7 |
| 2017 | 88.5 | 100.8 | 74.4 |
| 2016 | 66.1 | 103.4 | 49.0 |
| 2015 | 58.9 | 69.1 | 52.2 |
| 2014 | 70.1 | 81.6 | 62.4 |
| 2013 | 84.6 | 94.9 | 77.0 |
| 2012 | 96.4 | 117.0 | 81.9 |
Related
How this is measured
Prices are the World Bank's monthly averages, in US dollars of the day (not adjusted for inflation), as published in its Commodity Price Data, the “Pink Sheet”. A new month appears early in the month after; it is not a live quote, and September 2026 is the latest month published.
The five-year position ranks the latest month against the 60 months before it: the 90th percentile means it was higher than 90% of them. The record is the highest or lowest month in the World Bank's data, which for this series starts in January 1970. Some series have changed grade, port or source over that time; the World Bank's description below says when, and a record that spans a change compares two different things.
The series, in the World Bank's words: “Coal (Australia), from February 2022, port thermal, f.o.b. Newcastle, 6000 kcal/kg futures price. From 2015 to January 2022, port thermal, f.o.b. Newcastle, 6000 kcal/kg spot price. 2002-2014, thermal GAR, f.o.b. piers, Newcastle/Port Kembla , 6,300 kcal/kg (11,340 btu/lb), less than 0.8%, sulfur 13% ash; previously 6,667 kcal/kg (12,000 btu/lb), less than 1.0% sulfur, 14% ash”. Sources it lists: Bloomberg Finance L.P. Finance L.P. Finance L.P.; Coal Week International; Coal Week; IHS McCloskey Coal Report; International Coal Report World Bank.
No other free source publishes this exact benchmark, so it is not cross-checked.
The World Bank revises recent months when its sources do, and these pages show the figures as currently published, rebuilt daily. Source: World Bank, Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), edition of 2 October 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Every month of every commodity here: commodities.csv.