Japan’s coking coal imports rise in October

Japan's coking coal imports rose in October on a strong recovery in steel output, supported by increased manufacturing demand.

Japan imported 4.95mn t of coking coal in October, up by 3pc from September but down by 14pc from a year earlier, according to finance ministry data. Its January-October imports fell by 8pc from a year earlier to 52.1mn t.

Shipments from largest supplier Australia increased to 2.84mn t in October, up by 24pc from 2.29mn t in September and by 9pc from a year earlier. Japan's crude steel output rebounded in October amid continued strong recovery in manufacturing activities, particularly in the automotive sector. A rise in domestic automobile sales also provided a boost and further bolstered the country's steel demand. This prompted Japan's largest steel producer Nippon Steel to resume operations at its Muroran steel mill in north Japan and restart its Kimitsu blast furnace in Chiba prefecture in late November.

The Argus spot price assessment of premium low-volatile hard coking coal averaged $122.46/t fob Australia in October, up by 0.4pc from $121.92/t in September.

Japan's metallurgical coke imports of 25,617t in October rose by 7pc from 23,992t in September but decreased by 7pc from a year earlier. Almost all of Japan's met coke imports came from China.

By Parvin Chong

Japan&#39;s coking coal imports (&#39;000s) Origin Oct-20 Oct-19 Pc change Jan-Oct 2020 Jan-Oct 2019 Pc change Australia 2,838 2,594 +9% 24,386 26,330 -7% Russia 309 401 -23% 3,587 3,626 -1% Canada 516 833 -38% 5,260 5,444 -3% US 256 721 -64% 5,833 7,467 -22% Indonesia 890 1,077 -17% 11,523 11,859 -3% Colombia 112 0 n/a 655 851 -23% Others 33 156 -79% 839 1,216 -31% Total 4,954 5,782 -14% 52,083 56,793 -8% Source: Japan&#39;s finance ministry

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