Mining & Minerals

How to Request a Bulk Coal Quotation: Specifications and Documents Required

Use this coal RFQ checklist to specify calorific value, quality, quantity, destination, inspection and delivery terms.

October 26, 20263 min read

Table of Contents

A useful bulk coal RFQ tells suppliers what the receiving plant can accept and where the coal must be delivered. Include the coal type, technical specification, metric-ton quantity, destination and timing. If a field is undecided, identify it as open for proposal rather than allowing the supplier to assume it.

Technical checklist

Field	What to provide
Application	Boiler, cement kiln, coke oven, PCI or another named process
Energy	GCV or NCV, kcal/kg or MJ/kg, GAR/GAD or other explicit basis
Proximate analysis	Ash, moisture, volatile matter and fixed carbon, all with basis
Impurities	Sulfur and process-specific chemistry limits
Sizing	Screen range, oversize and fines tolerances
Special tests	HGI, ash fusion, coking properties or other plant requirements
Acceptance	Guaranteed limits, rejection levels, sampling and laboratory methods

Separate a typical target from a contractual limit. A buyer may prefer one energy value but accept a defined lower value with an agreed adjustment. Make that distinction visible so quotations can be compared without quietly changing the requirement.

Commercial checklist

Trial quantity, total metric-ton quantity and monthly schedule if recurring.
Destination country, port or factory, receiving equipment and unloading constraints.
Preferred Incoterm, named place and agreed edition.
Required delivery window, quotation currency and validity.
Permitted origins, source-approval requirements and whether blending is allowed.
Payment structure and required evidence at each milestone.

Documents and inspection

Request the proposed source specification and COA with lot, date, sampling point and test bases. State whether an independent inspector is required for quality, quantity or both. List invoice, transport and origin documents, plus any route-specific documents confirmed by your customs adviser. Specify retained samples and the dispute laboratory before the first delivery.

Do I need every technical field before making contact?

No. Provide the application, approximate requirement and destination first, then identify unresolved fields for technical review. The initial inquiry should open a useful discussion, while a firm purchase needs a complete approved specification.

Can I send a specification sheet?

Yes. Use the existing quotation form and put the key coal requirements in its specification or message fields. Confirm any additional document exchange with the sourcing team.

Turn the guidance into a comparable offer

Ask the proposed supplier to separate confirmed information from open items. Record the product, source country, analytical basis, shipment quantity and named delivery point on the same comparison sheet. An offer that omits one of these fields should be clarified before it is ranked against complete offers. Do not treat an indicative market description as an accepted consignment specification.

For a recurring programme, agree how changes in source or quality will be approved and how each delivery will be sampled. Keep technical approval separate from payment and freight approval, then reconcile them in the purchase contract. This helps prevent a commercially attractive offer from bypassing the receiving plant's acceptance conditions.

Duara Group assesses sourcing requirements from Kenya for African and international buyers. Origin, availability, assay, price and delivery terms require transaction-specific confirmation. Request a bulk coal quotation with your specification, metric-ton quantity, destination and delivery window.

Sources and scope

Sources reviewed on 26 October 2026. Technical guidance is a purchasing framework; the signed specification and applicable current rules control each transaction.