South Africa to Australia: Why coal profits are surging during Iran war

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · Aug 19, 2026 · 1235 words · By Shola Lawal

Climate Change and Energy Transition Geopolitical Conflict Global Energy Crisis

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What to know about Climate Change and Energy Transition

South Africa to Australia: Why coal profits are surging during Iran war Coal companies are reporting a huge rise in profits, but analysts say a global clean energy transition is still on track.

Claims checked 23

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

South Africa to Australia: Why coal profits are surging during Iran war Coal companies are reporting a huge rise in profits, but analysts say a global clean energy transition is still on track.

Why it matters

Crude oil and natural gas supplies have been disrupted worldwide by the United States-Israel war on Iran, but one energy sector appears to be cashing in – coal.

Common ground

This week, South Africa’s thermal coal producer Thungela Resources said it had doubled its half-year profits as the war has forced more countries to buy the fuel.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What terms are actually in the Iran proposal, and which side would have to compromise first?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Indonesia is the top coal exporter by a wide margin, followed by Australia and Russia?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/19/south-africa-to-australia-why-coal-prof…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 23 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 13

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified 2

info Single Source 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “Indonesia is the top coal exporter by a wide margin, followed by Australia and Russia.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “Iran’s attacks had knocked out 17 percent of Qatar’s LNG exports by March, state officials said.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources (AnewZ and an Asian LNG benchmark report) confirm that Iranian attacks knocked out 17% of Qatar's LNG export capacity, citing CEO Saad al-Kaabi.

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web search NEUTRAL — Iranian attacks have wiped out 17% of Qatar’s liquified natural gas export capacity (LNG), equivalent to $20 billion in lost annual revenue, the CEO of Qatar’s state-owned energy company, Saad al-Kaab…
https://anewz.tv/region/middle-east/18819/iran-attacks-erase…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) benchmark hovered near a three-year high on Friday after missile attacks from Iran disabled 17 per cent of Qatar's export capacity, causing a significant disrupti…
https://timesofoman.com/article/169687-asian-lng-benchmark-n…

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web search NEUTRAL — Qatar was among the world's biggest LNG exporters before the war in Iran began in February 2026.Most LNG from Qatar and the UAE goes to Asia. According to Reuters, about 80 per cent of Qatar's LNG shi…
https://www.livemint.com/news/world/from-world-biggest-lng-e…

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Claim 3: “China’s domestic coal production also fell this year as the government tightened oversight following a deadly explosion in May at the Liushenyu coal mine, where 82 people died.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “South Africa’s thermal coal producer Thungela Resources said it had doubled its half-year profits”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources (Al Jazeera, CNBC Africa/Reuters, and MarketScreener/Reuters) confirm that Thungela Resources doubled its half-year profits.

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 17 (Reuters) – Thungela Resources’ Ensham thermal coal mine anchors the company’s growth prospects away from South Africa, CEO Moses Madondo said on Monday, after the Australian operation helped t…
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2026/thungela-resources-profit-mo…

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 17 (Reuters) - South Africa's Thungela Resources said on Monday its half-year profit more than doubled on the back of higher thermal coal prices and increased export sales as the Middle East confl…
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/thungela-resources-profi…

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web search NEUTRAL — This week, South Africa’s thermal coal producer Thungela Resources said it had doubled its half-year profits as the war has forced more countries to buy the fuel.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/19/south-africa-to-aus…

info

Claim 5: “the United Arab Emirates’s Das Island LNG terminal, Fujairah oil terminal, Ruwais Refinery Complex and other energy sites have been attacked”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of Garmin fēnix 7 owner's manuals, which are completely irrelevant to energy terminal attacks in the UAE.

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web search NEUTRAL — Press STARTto start the activity timer. When your interval workout has a warm up, press LAPto begin the first interval. Follow the on-screen instructions. At any time, press LAPto stop the current int…
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-C001C335-A8EC-4…

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web search NEUTRAL — Garmin reserves the right to change or improve its products and to make changes in the content of this manual without obligation to notify any person or organization of such changes or improvements.
https://doi-product-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/pub/User-Manual/…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — You can create custom workouts that include goals for each workout step and for varied distances, times, and calories. During your activity, you can view workout-specific data screens that contain wor…
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-C001C335-A8EC-4…

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Claim 6: “Last year, South Korea joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “About 82 percent of oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz went to Asia in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources explicitly state that according to the EIA, 82% of crude oil and condensate exports through the Strait of Hormuz in 2022 were destined for Asia.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 900 kilometres (560 mi) long and from 65 to 250 km (40 to 155 mi) wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Su…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Malacca

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Bab al-Mandab (Arabic: باب المندب, lit. 'Gate of Grief'), also written as Bab el-Mandeb, and alternatively referred to as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait or Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, is a strait and globa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Bab_al-Mandab

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Iran war, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has led to what the International Energy Agency has characterized as the "largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_impact_of_the_2026_Ir…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “Production at Ensham rose by 38 percent in the first half of the year... to 2.2 tonnes, compared with 1.6 tonnes in the previous period.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “Qatar... was forced to declare force majeure on its delivery contracts in March when Iranian drones hit its Ras Laffan oil facility”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (LinkedIn, Gulf Energy Crisis report, and a news report on QatarEnergy) confirm that Qatar declared force majeure following Iranian drone strikes on the Ras Laffan facility.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been at war with Iran and its regional allies. Hostilities broke out after US–Israeli airstrikes killed several Iranian officials, including S…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ras Laffan Industrial City (Arabic: رأس لفان, romanized: Ra’s Lafān) is a Qatari industrial hub located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Doha. It is administered by QatarEnergy. Ras Laffan Industrial Ci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Laffan_Industrial_City

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since the 2026 Iran war began with United States and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026, following the breakdown of US-Iran talks and negotiations, locations across Qatar have been subject to…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iranian_strikes_on_Qatar

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “According to an analysis by the energy data company Ember, coal output will rise globally by 1.8 percent by the end of 2026 compared with 2025 in a “worst-case” scenario.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for the Ember analysis regarding coal output in 2026.

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Claim 11: “In 2021, more than 40 countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam, promised to scale back coal use at the COP26 global climate summit.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 12: “Global coal consumption was already rising in 2025 with the Eurasia region and the US using the fuel to power artificial intelligence data centres, according to the World Bank.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided web search results are irrelevant (discussing cybersecurity terminology) and Wikipedia results only define 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasia Group' without mentioning coal consumption or AI data centers in 2025.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eurasia ( yoor-AY-zhə, also UK: -⁠shə), is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some models of the world, physio-graphically, Eurasia is a single sup…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eurasia Group is a political risk consultancy founded in 1998 by Ian Bremmer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia_Group

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Eurasia Tunnel (Turkish: Avrasya Tüneli) is a road tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey, crossing underneath the Bosphorus Strait. The tunnel was officially opened on 20 December 2016 and opened to traffic …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia_Tunnel

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 13: “Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies were shipped during peacetime.”

VERIFIED

Wikipedia entries for '2026 Iran war' and '2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis' confirm Iran blocked the strait starting February 28, 2026. Web results confirm the strait handles approximately 20% of global oil and LNG exports.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a major maritime choke point for world energy trade, has been largely blocked by Iran since 28 February 2026, when the United States and Israel launched …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Strait_of_Hormuz_crisis

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Strait of Hormuz () is a waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast lies the Musandam Peninsula under the Musandam Governorate of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Hormuz

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+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 14: “The company reported 4.80 South African rand ($0.30) in headline earnings per share... up from 1.92 rand ($0.12) in June last year.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 15: “the government [of India] plans to launch several new coal-mining projects that will see global supplies increase by 2.5 billion tonnes a year, according to the Global Energy Monitor.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 16: “Japan has lifted restrictions on older, high-emission coal plants”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 17: “China and India already consume 70 percent of the world’s coal”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 18: “In Pakistan, data from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority showed that by July, electricity generated from imported coal had risen by 90 percent compared with the same period the previous year.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 19: “Italy has pushed back its coal phase-out plans from late 2025 to 2038.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 20: “strikes on Tehran began on February 28”

VERIFIED

The claim is corroborated by five independent news sources (Al Jazeera, EuroNews, Dailydispatch) and explicitly verified by a Wikipedia entry regarding the '2026 Iran war'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of confirmed Iranian officials killed during the 2026 Iran war. Additional reports indicate four unnamed top officials from the Ministry of Intelligence were killed, contributi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iranian_officials_kill…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This timeline of the 2026 Iran war covers the period since 28 February 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2026_Iran_war

+ 5 more evidence sources

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Claim 21: “South Korea has delayed the shutdown of coal-powered plants it promised to wind down by 2040.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 22: “Facilities in Saudi Arabia and Oman have also been hit.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Times of Oman, NYT, and a report on Saudi pipeline shutdowns) confirm that energy facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked.

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web search NEUTRAL — Riyadh : Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry stated that multiple energy facilities and installations located within the southern province of the kingdom came under attack on Tuesday morning, leading to re…
https://timesofoman.com/article/176646-saudi-arabia-says-ene…

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web search NEUTRAL — Saudi Arabia has faced escalating attacks from Iran-allied militant groups in recent days.A diplomatic meeting between Iran and the Gulf Arab states to discuss the situation in Hormuz was abruptly pos…
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/13/oil-price-iran-war-strait-ho…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Saudi Arabian Energy Ministry said it was closing the pipeline as a precautionary measure, but the shutdown came after reports that the Houthi militia had seized a strategic Red Sea island and a p…
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/business/oil-prices-jump-…

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Claim 23: “Prices were set at $131.85 per tonne in July, compared with $102.20 in the previous year.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.