Russia's coal exports from leading domestic ports as well as Ukrainian and Latvian terminals were largely higher in March as weather conditions continued to improve, figures compiled by Reuters showed.

Coal shipments are typically reduced during the harsh Russian winter because of the time required to defrost cargoes.

Shipments from the Pacific ports of Vanino and Vostochny showed a significant increase as demand from Asian markets rose.

"Asia is hungry, the market is active, Daltransugol has ambitious plans: they want to increase shipments to 12 million tonnes per year as soon as possible," a source at Vanino told Reuters.

SUEK, Russia's largest steam coal producer, exports coal from Vanino via its Daltransugol subsidiary.

The coal miner is unable to achieve its 12 million tonne export target because of infrastructure constraints on the railroad that runs to the port.

Last year, it exported 5.9 million tons via Vanino. (Reuters)