Japan’s coking coal imports extend downtrend in March

: Coking coal, Metals
25/04/28

Japan's coking coal imports extended a downtrend in March, reflecting the prolonged downturn in the steel sector, which has weighed on raw material demand.

The country imported 2.57mn t of coking coal in March, down by 18pc on the year but up by 5pc from February, according to data from the country's finance ministry. Shipments dropped by 10pc to 8.15mn t in January-March 2025 from a year earlier.

Top supplier Australia shipped 19pc less volume from a year earlier at 1.78mn t, and volumes in January-March fell by 18pc from 2024 to 5.59mn t.

Arrivals from Canada fell to 192,903t in March, down by over 60pc compared with a year and month earlier, but January-March volumes rose by 11pc on the year to 1.22mn t.

Metallurgical coke imports rose by around 30pc on the year and month to 78,729t in March, with volumes in January-March 28pc higher on the year at 255,804t.

Crude steel production from basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) rose by 3pc on the year to 5.3mn t.

But output could fall in coming months. Japanese steel producer JFE will suspend operations at one of its three BOF in the West Japan Works from around mid-May on the back of lower steel demand in domestic and export markets, the firm announced on 2 April. This is expected to lower annual crude steel output by around 15pc.

Meanwhile, the mill will proceed to invest in an electric arc furnace (EAF) facility in western Okayama, which could begin commercial operations in April-June 2028.

Other steelmakers such as Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel have also been making the shift from BOF to EAF.

The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price fob Australia averaged $174.84/t in March, down by 7pc from February.

By Xiuqi Huang

Japan's coal imports
Origin	Mar 25	Mar 24	y-o-y ± %	Feb 25	m-o-m ± %	Jan-Mar 2025	Jan-Mar 2024	y-o-y ± %

Coking coal ('000t)
Australia	1,781	2,206	-19	1,522	+17	5,589	6,780	-18
Canada	193	493	-61	554	-65	1,221	1,103	+11
US	297	215	+38	252	+18	743	848	-12
Indonesia	298	230	+29	85	+249	495	329	+50
Colombia	0	0	n/a	25	-100	25	0	n/a
Others	0	0	n/a	0	n/a	80	48	+67
Total	2,569	3,144	-18	2,438	+5	8,153	9,109	-10
Met coke (t)
China	74,633	57,426	+30	56,445	+32	222,202	188,235	+18
Others	4,096	4,069	+1	3,713	+10	33,602	11,323	+197
Total	78,729	61,495	+28	60,158	+31	255,804	199,558	+28
Source: Japan Finance Ministry

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