According to the data released by the China Customs Statistics China’s coking coal imports fell 8.1% YOY to 5.64 million tonnes in March mainly due to a decline in the inflow from major suppliers Mongolia and Russia.
Imports from Mongolia fell by 98.5 percent YOY to 49,580 tonnes in March while imports from Russia fell by 11.4 percent YOY to 369,862 tonnes. But imports from Australia surged 96.36 percent year on year to 4.37 million tonnes in March.
Although March coking coal imports fell year on year, China’s total coking coal imports in Q1 saw an increase despite production cuts and lockdowns. For the first quarter, China imported 20.80 million mt of coking coal, an increase by 26.71 percent compared to the same period last year. The increase in import volumes could be due to the cost competitiveness of imported coals compared to domestically produced coals.
Meanwhile, China imported 64,059 tonnes of metallurgical coke in March, an increase of 201 percent YOY whereas Japanese coke import was at 27,526 tonnes. On the other hand, China exported 324,361 tonnes of coke in March, a decrease of 45.90 percent on the year. Although coke exports witnessed a sharp decline, the Chinese market was flooded with coke from countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Poland, which had been seeking homes in China’s spot market.
The surge in Chinese coke imports and a decline in coke exports could be attributed to the weak global demand for coke in markets outside China. Global demand for coke also has been weak owing to production cuts on the back of lockdowns across many countries. In addition, many coke cargoes not required by end-users globally were sold into the Chinese market at discounts.
Source: S & P Global Platts
