[en] The following report deals with the use of coal and coke during 1998. Some information about techniques, environmental questions and markets are also given. Data have been collected by questionnaires to major users and by telephone to minor users. Preliminary statistical data from Statistics Sweden have also been used. The use of steam coal for heating purposes during 1998 was 680 000 tons and somewhat lower than in 1997. The extremely high figures of 1996 were due to twice the production of electricity because of lack of waterpower. The co-generation plants were the main users of coal. The minor plants have increased their use of forest fuels. Probably the use of steam coal will go down in the immediate years both in the heat generating and the co-generating plants. During the top year 1987 coal was used in 18 hot water plants and 11 co-generation plants. During 1998 these figures are 1 and 8. Taxes and environmental reasons explain this trend. The use of steam coal in the industry has been constant at the level 700 000 tons. This level is supposed to be constant or to vary with business cycles. Steel-works, however, increase their use of steam coal in order to replace the more expensive coke. The import of metallurgical coal in 1998 was 1.6 mill tons like the year before. 1.1 mill tons of coke were produced. The coke consumption in the industry was 1.4 mill tons from which 0.3 mill tons were imported. Several other plants have plans to replace the coal with forest fuels, waste fuels and NG. Even the biggest plant, Vaesteraas, has ordered a block for bio fuels. Helsingborg has started to use wood pellets. The pellets replace most of the coal for the heat production in the co-generation plant. Norrkoeping Kraft AB has put a fluid bed boiler for various fuels into operation, leading to more than half the coal consumption compared with previous years. They have also rebuilt one of their travelling grates for bio fuels. Stockholm Energi, Haesselbyverket, has invested in equipment for burning pellets instead of coal. In Linkoeping waste of rubber is mixed with coal. Also Soederenergi AB has rebuilt their three coal boilers and replaced 100 % of the coal by peat and wood fuels. Coal is a reserve fuel. Several co-generation plants like Linkoeping, Norrkoeping, Uppsala and Oerebro use both coal and forest fuels. The use of coal is then concentrated to the electricity production. The average price of steam coal imported in Sweden in 1998 was 370 SEK/ton or the same as in 1997. For the world, the average import price fell about 6 USD/ton to 32 USD/ton. The price fall was concentrated to the 4th quarter. The prices have continued to fall during 1999 as a result of the crisis in Asia but are now stabilising as a result of increasing oil prices. All Swedish plants meet their emission limits of dust, SO₂ and NO_x, given by county administrations or concession boards. The co-generation plants have all some sort of SO₂-removal system. Mostly used is the wet-dry method. The biggest co-generation plant, in Vaesteraas, has recently invested in a catalytic NO_x-cleaning system type SCR, which is reducing the emission level 80-90 %. Most other plants are using low NO_x- burners or injection systems type SNCR, based on ammonium or urea, which are reducing the emissions 50-70 %. A positive effect of the recently introduced NO_x-duties is a 60 % reduction compared to some years ago, when the duties were introduced. World hard coal production was about 3 700 tons in 1998, a minor decrease compared to 1997. The trade, however, has increased about 3 % to 520 mill tons. The coal demand in the OECD-countries has increased about 1,7 % yearly during the last ten years. The coal share of the energy supply is about 20% in the OECD-countries and 27% in the whole world. Several sources estimate a continuing growth during the next 20 years in spite of an increasing use of natural gas and nuclear power. The reason is a strong demand for electrical power in the Asian countries and the developing countries. However, greater efforts to minimise the env ironmental influence will lead to more effective power generation methods and use of other fuels such as forest fuels. During the next few years the crisis in Asia will also have a reducing effect on the use of coal