Japan's coking coal imports in August climbed to their highest level since April 2020, driven by higher Australian and US shipments despite lower crude steel output.
Arrivals to Japan stood at 5.98mn t in August, up by 19pc on the month and by 27pc on the year, according to data from Japan's finance ministry. January-August imports rose by 3.6pc to 42.4mn t compared with the same period a year earlier.
Imports from Australia in August rose to their highest level in two years at 3.27mn t, rising by 38pc on the month and by 42pc on the year. US shipments stood at 840,000t, doubling on the month and nearly a threefold increase from a year earlier. Indonesian arrivals partially offset the increase, with a 17pc drop on the month and 13pc fall on the year to 1.17mn t in August.
Japanese crude steel production in August fell by 2.9pc on the year to 7.1mn t. The pace of the country's overall domestic car production recovery has slowed, underscoring views that the post-Covid-19 pandemic recovery phase is coming to an end.
The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price fob Australia averaged $254.97/t in August, up by 9.8pc from July's average and by 5pc on the year.
Japan's metallurgical coke imports fell by 58pc from a month earlier and by 61pc on the year to 43,369t. Imports from China made up over 90pc of Japan's metallurgical coke imports.
