Insight
China limits imports to support domestic coal prices
*Please note that this report only includes an Excel data file if this is indicated in "What's included" below
Report summary
On 13 April, many ports in China were reported to have started a ban on imports. There were two events that day that likely led to the ban. In the morning, the National Bureau of Statistics in China released 26.7 Mt of coal import for March and, later that day, SXCoal published daily coal prices at RMB570/t for QHD FOB 5500. There are many questions to answer: • Why did China start the ban at this time? • How did current imports and prices weigh on the decision for a ban? • Are further restrictions expected? • What is the impact in seaborne market?
Table of contents
- Why is China starting to restrict coal imports again?
- Are imports driving domestic coal prices lower?
- Expect more curbs if the current ban doesn’t reverse the fall in prices
- Uncertainty returns to the seaborne market
Tables and charts
This report includes the following images and tables:
- Chinese seaborne thermal coal imports in 2017 and 2018
- FOB Qinhuangdao price trend, RMB/t
What's included
This report contains:
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