Data from the national statistical bureau showed China imported 99.84 million tonnes of coal in the first half of the year, falling 37.67% on a year basis, mainly due to faltering demand.

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© RWE

The June coal import posted the 12th consecutive year-on-year decline of 33.73% at 16.6 million tonnes, which was 16.5% higher than a month ago. Additional with shrinking imports, the number of Chinese coal importers reduced to 376 by end-June from last year’s 639. Most of the top ten Chinese coal importers were state-owner. The largest privately-owned coal importer was Suek Shanghai Trading Co., Ltd. with 1.77 million tonnes of importin this year. The biggest decline of importe came from privat companies.

Combined coal imports from the top five suppliers of Indonesia, Australia, North Korea, Russia and Mongolia amounted to 95.3 million tonnes in the first six months, accounting for 95.45% of China’s total coal imports.

Over January-June, China imported 36.57 million tonnes of Indonesian coal, including 22.15 million tonnes of lignite and 14.19 million tonnes of thermal coal, down 34.68% and 49.24% on year, respectively. Indonesian suppliers were reportedly seeking other Asian markets like Thailand and the Philippines, owing to sluggish demand from China and lower price expectation from Indian buyers.

China imported 34.12 million tonnes of Australian coal, including 22.37 million tonnes of thermal coal and 10.85 million tonnes of coking coal, during the first six months, falling 23.03% and 28.07% year on year, respectively.

The reduced imports from China will lead to a further price decline for the world wide coal market prices.