China’s February coking coal imports rise on month

China's coking coal imports in February edged up from a 13-month low in January but fell from a year earlier as an informal ban halted Australian imports and supplies from other sources tightened.

China imported 3.23mn t of coking coal in February, up by 3.5pc from 3.12mn t in January, according to Chinese customs data. January-February imports fell by 58pc on the year to 6.35mn t.

February seaborne imports rose by 57pc from January but combined imports for the two months fell by 81pc on the year to 2.43mn t. US imports in January-February surged by 452pc. Canadian imports in February rose by 18pc from January, but fell by 17pc year-to-date. Russian imports in February increased by 119pc from January, as strong Chinese demand for Russian coal, particularly pulverised coal injection (PCI), emerged before the lunar new year holidays in February.

The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price delivered on a cfr China basis gained by 8pc from early January to $220/t on 26 February, the highest since November 2018. The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price on a fob Australia basis rose by $23.85/t, or 19pc, to $127.50/t over the same period, widening the spread between fob Australia and cfr China prices to $92.50/t.

There were again no shipments from Australia in February, as China's trade policy on restricting Australian coal remained unchanged. Some Australian cargoes were granted permission to discharge at major Chinese ports earlier in the month, but it is unclear whether the coal would be allowed to clear customs.

February imports from Mongolia fell by 20pc from January as Covid-19 cases movement controls limited the number of trucks crossing the China-Mongolia border. January-February imports from Mongolia rose on the year by 46pc to 3.92mn t when the border was shut down during Covid-10 lockdowns last year.

By Parvin Chong

China&#39;s coking coal imports 000t Origin Feb-21 Jan-21 &#177; % Jan-Feb 2021 Jan-Feb 2020 &#177; % Australia 0.0 0.0 n/a 0.0 10,374.9 -100.0 Russia 578.4 264.2 118.9 842.5 952.0 -11.5 Canada 417.7 353.5 18.2 771.1 930.0 -17.1 US 296.0 279.0 6.1 575.1 104.2 451.8 Other 194.6 49.0 296.7 243.6 124.4 95.8 Seaborne Total 1,486.7 945.7 57.2 2,432.4 12,485.6 -80.5 Mongolia 1,740.0 2,176.1 -20.0 3,916.1 2,676.1 46.3 Total 3,226.7 3,121.8 3.4 6,348.5 15,161.6 -58.1 Source: China&#39;s customs

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