Coal news and updates

China July thermal coal imports down 30.6% on y-o-y

China’s July imports of thermal coal – including bituminous and sub-bituminous coals, climbed 12.8% from the previous month but slumped 30.6% on year to 7.12 million tonnes, according to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The was the fifth consecutive yearly drop, reflecting chronic weak domestic demand amid the government’s stricter quality standards of imported materials.

China’s thermal coal imports over January-July were 49.47 million tonnes, a 42.2% fall from the year-earlier period.

China imported 3.99 million tonnes of Australian thermal coal in July, down 28.1% on the year but increasing 5.8% from June, while imports from Indonesia fell 21.4% on year but up 16.2% on month to 2.1 million tonnes.

Thermal coal imports from Russia decreased 23.4% on year but climbed 22.1% on month to 0.85 million tonnes in the month.

Meanwhile, China’s lignite imports in July fell 4.4% on the year but surged 41.4% from June to 4.95 million tonnes.

Lignite imports over January-July were 28.7 million tonnes, down 31.2% year on year, with imports from top supplier Indonesia at 93.4% or 26.8 million tonnes, down 32.1% from a year ago.

source: http://en.sxcoal.com