Posted on 26 Apr 2022
China's coking coal imports increased year-on-year in the first quarter, with support from Russian-origin supply, while imports from Mongolia also recovered in March as the outbreak there of Covid-19 eased.
Kallanish learns from Chinese customs data that China imported 12.26 million tonnes of coking coal in Q1, up by 8.9% on-year. Imports in March alone jumped by 26% from February to 3.76mt, but were still 23.3% lower on-year.
Coking coal imports from Russia soared by 27.2% in Q1, with 3.33mt reported in the period. The Russia-Ukraine war led to the blockade of the Russian economy and the paralysis of the US dollar-settlement system in Russia. The country has therefore turned to exporting to China at a discount price and settling in CNY. In the months starting from May, more Russian coal is expected to flow into the Chinese market, a Chinese trader says.
Coking coal supplies from Mongolia recovered around 90% to 970,000 tonnes in March, but were still down 55% year-on-year. Shipments of Mongolian coking coal to China in Q1 fell 4mt to 2.1mt. Intermittent Covid outbreaks in border areas have led to an unstable supply of Mongolian coal. But border authorities have begun implementing new truck pass policies to encourage shipments, with daily import quotas set to increase for ports with no confirmed cases.
Supplies from the US, Australia and Canada all fell significantly in February and March, reaching 2.59mt, 2mt and 1.59mt respectively in Q1.
Source:Kallanish
