Colombian thermal coal traceability

Thermal coal is burned to produce energy, and in Colombia it is above all an export product. According to Bulletin 26, "Minería en cifras", of Colombia's Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME), February 2026 (opens in a new tab), it represented 34.0 % of the value of the country's mining exports in 2025, second only to gold.

That is why its traceability usually ends in an international sale. The UPME thermal coal balance (opens in a new tab) reports that, between 2012 and 2016, domestic consumption ranged between 5 and nearly 8 million tonnes a year, and that most of the production went to export markets.

According to the same balance, thermal coal is used for power generation, for export and in industry: paper, cement, food, textiles and pottery. Between 2012 and 2016, thermal power plants in Colombia used between 1.8 and 2.1 million tonnes a year, and cement production between 1.4 and 1.6 million.

Colombia's Mining Technical Glossary (opens in a new tab) does not separate thermal from metallurgical coal: it classifies coals by rank, from lignite to anthracite. The difference is commercial, and the UPME tracks each one under a different Central Product Classification (CPC) code: 1101004 for thermal coal and 1101003 for metallurgical coal.

Production comes mostly from large open-pit mines: according to the 2012-2016 UPME balance, about 93 % of Colombia's thermal coal was produced that way, in mines with capacities of 15 to 30 million tonnes a year.

For exports, the UPME bulletin places the origin of the thermal coal shipped in 2025 in Cesar (57.9 %), La Guajira (33.3 %) and Norte de Santander (6.5 %). Its main destinations were the Netherlands (12.6 %), South Korea (11.6 %) and Chile (9.2 %). Compared with 2024, the quantity exported fell 21.8 % and its value 32.4 %.

In the large mines of Cesar and La Guajira the chain is short: the mining title holder reports production when the coal enters its inventory and reports each sale when it is invoiced. Since almost all of that coal is shipped abroad, the sale is usually an international closing, recorded with the currency, Colombia's representative market exchange rate (TRM) and its date, and the details of the foreign buyer.

In the interior of the country the chain is longer: many traders buy and resell coal before it reaches a power plant, a cement plant or a port. Each trader records the purchase when the invoice is issued, after checking the seller in the Single Registry of Mineral Traders (RUCOM), and records the sale when it invoices.

One practical point: the coding table in the technical annex of ANM Resolution 759 of 2024 (opens in a new tab) has codes for metallurgical coal (CR) and anthracite (CA), but not a separate one for thermal coal. Thermal coal is not on the list of strategic minerals of ANM Resolution 1006 of 2023 (opens in a new tab), which does include metallurgical coal.

For an exporter, MinTrace records the international closing with the currency, the TRM and the buyer, and keeps each sale linked to the same evidence that was reported to the PTM. That is the evidence your supplier can share with you for each shipment.

For mines that run SAP, MinTrace On SAP takes the goods receipt (MIGO, movement type 101) as the production report and the billing document as the sale. For traders buying from several title holders, MinTrace checks each seller in the RUCOM and stores its certificate of origin with a SHA-256 fingerprint.

1. 1

   Which OTTM do you use to record your transactions in the PTM?

2. 2

   Is this shipment recorded as an international closing, and can you share its acceptance code?

3. 3

   Which mining titles does the coal come from, and what certificates of origin support it?

4. 4

   If you buy from other producers, how do you check them in the RUCOM?

5. 5

   From what date is recording in the PTM mandatory for your category?