Page 7 - AsiaElec Week 09 2023

AsiaElec COAL AsiaElec

China reacts to end of unofficial

ban on Aussie coal

CHINA CHINESE coal buyers have increased their for- requirements.
ays into Australian coal purchases in the past The ministry spokesperson added that all deals
month with the easing of an unofficial two-year in cross-border coal shipments were subject to a
ban on Australian coal making its way to the nationwide automatic import licence system,
country. though.
Traders in coal, prompted by coal-hungry At least one trader at a Chinese state-owned
utilities across China, were given the green light utility was quoted in the last week as saying The self-
on imports from Australia a month earlier, when that over 1mn tonnes of thermal coal had been
authorities in Beijing permitted four central gov- secured for March loading, according to local enforced ban
ernment-linked firms to open the door to Aussie media. It was not clear if this order was part of
coal. or in addition to the current movement of coal had been in
The self-enforced ‘ban’ had been in place since north.
late 2020, following a diplomatic spat between “Trade has picked up significantly over the past place since late
Canberra and Beijing, but with Chinese steel three days following the ministry’s remarks,” the 2020.
maker Baowu along with a trio of leading utilities unidentified trader was quoted as saying.
screaming out for coal in recent months, Beijing Chinese traders know not to fall foul of the
blinked first. nation’s bureaucracy, however, with a second
Coal exports from the world’s second-largest utility trader adding somewhat vaguely that “in
exporter to the largest consumer primarily com- theory, firms who acquire the licence would be
prise thermal coal, with lesser amounts of coking able to get their cargoes through customs.”
coal also sent north of the equator to help power In reality, though, “it is still not clear if there
China’s massive steel mills. will be hurdles at the customs clearance process,
According to data provided by Refinitiv and and we will have to wait and see once the coal
Kpler, as of the end of February this meant that arrives” the same trader added.
around 1.4mn tonnes of coal is currently winding Other issues facing traders in China include
its way to Chinese ports aboard at least 15 large- cargoes being resold while en route, and delays
scale coal carriers. brought about as part of an inefficient and heavily
China’s Ministry of Commerce made an offi- overstaffed bureaucracy.
cial response to a question posed in a surpris- The past two years have also seen sellers in
ingly open news conference late in February on Australia focus on other markets, while any
a possible resumption of Australian imports, shift back to focusing on supplying large-scale
indicating that individual companies were free to buyers in the Chinese market as a priority will
make their own decisions on coal imports based take considerable time and effort from both
on market conditions and individual company sides. ™

Week 09 01 •March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P7