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Guangdong July coal imports down 18.9% on y-o-y

Southern China’s economic hub Guangdong province imported 4.69 million tonnes of coal in July, dropping 18.9% year on year but up 12.5% from June -- the 11th consecutive year-on-year drop but the second straight monthly increase, according to the latest Chinese customs data.

Total value of the July imports was $252.5 million, which translates to an average price of $53.84/t, down $5.67/t on month and down $12.82/t on year.

Imports of thermal coal, mainly used for power generation, stood at 4.09 million tonnes in July, up 18.6% month on month but down 23.3% year on year.

Of this, lignite imports accounted for around 61.4% or 2.51 million tonnes, up 81.9% from June and up 4.1% year on year. About 2.37 million tonnes or 94.4% of the total lignite imports were from Indonesia.

The province imported 0.41 million tonnes of coking coal in July, down 41.4% on month and down 79.9% on year.

Over January-July, the province imported a total 26.65 million tonnes of coal, down 29.3% year on year, data showed.

Total thermal coal imports during the same period reached 23.86 million tonnes, down 27.6% on year, with lignite imports at 13.02 million tonnes, down 20.3%; while coking coal imports was 2.55 million tonnes, surging 67.8%.

source: http://en.sxcoal.com