<article><p class="lead">Japan's coking coal imports fell in September even with a gradual recovery in the country's manufacturing activity.</p><p>Japan imported 4.79mn t of coking coal in September, down by 1pc from August and down by 8pc from a year earlier, according to finance ministry data. January-August imports fell by 8pc from a year earlier to 47.1mn t.</p><p>Shipments from Japan's largest supplier Australia increased by 2pc to 2.29mn t in September from 2.25mn t in August and also by 5pc from a year earlier. Japan's crude steel output rebounded with a recovery in manufacturing, particularly in the auto sector. Rising steel demand in the country prompted domestic steel mill <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2142474">JFE Steel to restart</a> its blast furnace in September, after being shut for about three months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. </p><p>The Argus spot price assessment for premium low-volatile hard coking coal averaged $121.92/t fob Australia in September, up by 14pc from $106.80/t in August.</p><p>Japan's metallurgical coke imports rose by 216pc to 23,992t in September from 7,604t in August and fell by 35pc from a year earlier. Almost all of Japan's met coke imports came from China.</p><p class="bylines">By Parvin Chong</p><p><table class='tbl-excel'><tr><td class='tbl-header' colspan='5'>Japan coking coal imports (&#39;000t)</td><td class='tbl-header'></td><td class='tbl-header'></td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'></td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>Sep &#39;20</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>Sep &#39;19</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'> % &#177;</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>Jan-Sep 2020</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>Jan-Sep 2019</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>% &#177;</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-rowspace' colspan='7'></td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Australia</td><td class='tbl-right'>2,287</td><td class='tbl-right'>2,189</td><td class='tbl-right'>+5</td><td class='tbl-right'>21,548</td><td class='tbl-right'>23,736</td><td class='tbl-right'>-9</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Russia</td><td class='tbl-right'>321</td><td class='tbl-right'>436</td><td class='tbl-right'>-26</td><td class='tbl-right'>3,278</td><td class='tbl-right'>3,225</td><td class='tbl-right'>+2</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Canada</td><td class='tbl-right'>362</td><td class='tbl-right'>611</td><td class='tbl-right'>-41</td><td class='tbl-right'>4,744</td><td class='tbl-right'>4,611</td><td class='tbl-right'>+3</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>US</td><td class='tbl-right'>553</td><td class='tbl-right'>784</td><td class='tbl-right'>-29</td><td class='tbl-right'>5,577</td><td class='tbl-right'>6,746</td><td class='tbl-right'>-17</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Indonesia</td><td class='tbl-right'>1,024</td><td class='tbl-right'>1,089</td><td class='tbl-right'>-6</td><td class='tbl-right'>10,634</td><td class='tbl-right'>10,781</td><td class='tbl-right'>-1</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Colombia</td><td class='tbl-right'>91</td><td class='tbl-right'>72</td><td class='tbl-right'>+28</td><td class='tbl-right'>542</td><td class='tbl-right'>851</td><td class='tbl-right'>-36</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Others</td><td class='tbl-right'>150</td><td class='tbl-right'>26</td><td class='tbl-right'>+477</td><td class='tbl-right'>806</td><td class='tbl-right'>1,060</td><td class='tbl-right'>-24</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left tbl-bold'>Total</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>4,789</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>5,205</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-8</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>47,130</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>51,012</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-8</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'></td><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'></td><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'></td><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'></td><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'></td><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'></td><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic'>Source: finance ministry</td></tr></table></p></article>