30/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | MAR 30, 2026

17

Back to black: Facing energy shock, Asia turns to coal

hundreds of thousands of people have gone cold, shut down in an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war. At a cavernous facility in Morbi, in India’s western Gujarat state, a 200 metre-long propane-powered kiln that normally fires clay nonstop is silent. It is one of hundreds of plants supplying homeware tiles across the world that have been forced to suspend operations. Thick layers of dust smother giant grinding and pressing machines, while only a tiny crew of workers transfer the last batch made three weeks ago off snaking assembly lines and into trucks. “We are suffering a lot,“ said Kishor Dulera, a tile unit proprietor who closed this factory and two others in BANGKOK: Asian countries are ramping up use of polluting coal to tackle energy shortages and price spikes linked to the Iran war, but the crisis could have an environmental silver lining. While leaning on the fossil fuel will raise emissions in the near term, the energy crisis is demonstrating the risks of energy import dependence, and could push policymakers to embrace renewables faster, analysts told AFP. “The ongoing Iran oil and gas crisis shows the importance of having domestic energy sources that are not exposed to the global commodity market, which coal is,” said Amy Kong, research analyst at Zero Carbon Analytics. “Countries like Vietnam who have rapidly increased their share of solar generation, have a stronger buffer against rising energy import prices,” Kong said. Much of Asia is heavily exposed to the energy crisis that has unfolded since the US-Israel attack on Iran began last month. More than 80% of the crude oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) that passes through the Strait of Hormuz heads to Asia, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are all major importers of LNG from Qatar, which said last week that its export capacity had been slashed by 17% because of Iranian attacks. It warned it would be forced to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts, signalling it may be unable to fulfill the agreements. Compounding the problem, most Asian countries do not have underground gas storage, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, leaving them especially vulnerable to price spikes. As a result, many nations are bumping up use of coal, which can be sourced regionally or even domestically, to prevent power outages and protect citizens from severe price shocks. While it cannot be substituted directly in LNG plants, countries can run existing coal power plants at a higher capacity or bring idle units back online. The shift has come in wealthy and developing economies alike. In South Korea, a cap on how much power can be generated from

India, the world’s fourth-largest economy, depends on imports for 60 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand. The overwhelming majority comes through the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which has been effectively blocked by Iran after US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic late last month sparked a broader regional conflict, disrupting global energy supplies. New Delhi has prioritised supply for households, shielding Indians who use it to cook food. That has squeezed the amount available for industrial use. Factories in sectors including stainless steel and plastic have cut back on production as a result. “If the main raw material is disturbed, the whole industry is disturbed,” Dulera told AFP. The ceramics hub at Morbi makes o Shift will ‘impose substantial environmental and public health costs,’ says analyst coal has been lifted, while Thailand is preparing to resume operations at two coal power units decommissioned last year. In India, already highly dependent on coal for electricity generation, the fuel is now being substituted for cooking gas. And in the Philippines, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told AFP authorities “plan to ramp up cheaper coal, (domestic) natural gas, and renewables”. The increase in demand has pushed coal prices higher and even sparked talk of a windfall tax in coal-producing Indonesia, which reversed a decision taken last year to reduce production. The shift is bad news for the environment in the short term. Coal is a top contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gases, and also a powerful air pollutant that is harmful for human health. The shift will “impose substantial environmental and public health costs”, said Dinita Setyawati, senior energy analyst for Asia at think tank Ember. Asia’s vulnerability is due in part to its heavy reliance on LNG, often promoted as a “transition fuel” – a less polluting option than coal that can “bridge the gap” as countries move towards renewable energy. Upfront costs for LNG plants can be lower than for renewables that may require grid upgrades. But renewables are now cheaper in the long run, and the current crisis is illustrating their benefits in terms of stable supply, said Putra

A coal fired power plant in Oyon Bay in the Philippine municipality of Masinloc. – AFPPIC

“I think we already see a bit of that coming from Southeast Asian countries,” he said. “There have been all these debates about how we can’t afford to spend the money (on renewables) upfront, but I think this security of supply issue is going to override that.” – AFP

reluctant to finance construction of new coal projects, concerned about stranded assets as nations are forced to phase down fossil fuels to meet their climate obligations. That could help refocus policymakers’ attention on the benefits of renewables, said Adhiguna.

Adhiguna, managing director at Energy Shift Institute, an energy finance think tank. “The story of gas as a stable transition fuel is highly in question,” he said. And while temporary increases in coal capacity are an attractive stopgap, the banking sector is

Indian tile makers feel heat of Middle East war NEW DELHI: Blazing-hot kilns in India’s US$6.5 billion ceramics manufacturing hub employing early March, sending hundreds of workers home.

propane at more than double the price it was before the war to ensure he fulfills customer orders. “If now we suffer a loss for two to three months, in the future we will get it back,“ he said. The tile industry developed in Gujarat due to the availability of clay and good transport connections, but it relies on overseas energy to fire. Aghara said the previous abundance of LPG and natural gas meant that there had been few moves to fully develop and adopt electric or hydrogen-powered kilns. Indian corporate giants like Reliance Industries have big green hydrogen production plans, which could remove Morbi’s import dependencies. But first, development is needed to ensure hybrid kilns can produce tiles of the quality that Morbi is known for. Aghara noted alternative fuels can’t replace gas“100% just yet”. – AFP

30,000 tiles per day, calling the closure a “disaster”. He said he has no income to pay his fixed costs and interest on loans of US$74,000 each month. “This crisis is horrible,“ Detroja said. The ripple effects of the energy crisis have been felt throughout the Morbi ecosystem. “Everyone is worried,“ said 29-year-old labourer Bunty Goswami, a migrant worker at a shut plant. “We are confused about what to do – whether we should go home, or not.” India’s government has boosted domestic LPG production, negotiated the passage of a handful of tankers and purchased new cargoes from Australia and Russia. That should, in time, ease supply constraints. Jitendra Aghara of Simpolo Tiles, one of Morbi’s biggest manufacturers, has kept operating by buying

up 90% of India’s total production and is one of the world’s largest ceramic manufacturing centres, exporting tiles to countries like the United States and Thailand. The industry at Morbi provides direct and indirect employment to nearly a million people, according to government statistics. More than 400 plants have closed after the gas supply chain was “broken”, said Manoj Arvadiya, head of the local manufacturing industry association. Keeping the kilns hot means plants operate around-the-clock – and emergency shutdowns can damage machinery. “It is a continuous process,“ said Arvadiya. “You can’t run it for two days and then switch it off for one day. It doesn’t work like that.” Hitesh Detroja said his now-shut Lexus Granito plant had produced