Global coal demand will be subdued over the next five years, growing at just 0.5 percent a year, marginally higher than current levels, due to lower consumption in China, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday. Coal consumption fell last year by 1.9 percent to 5.357 billion tonnes from a year earlier as lower gas prices, a surge in renewables and efficiency improvements dampened demand, the IEA said in its annual coal market report. Global coal demand is expected to rise by an average rate of 0.5 percent a year to 5.534 billion tonnes by 2022, “only marginally higher than current levels and meaning that coal use all but stagnates for around a decade,” the agency said. Coal use will decline in Europe, Canada, the United States and China – the world’s largest coal consumer – but rise in southeast Asia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. […]