Australia is China’s largest supplier of thermal coal, providing up to 35 per cent of the mineral used for electricity generation. Australian exports of coking coal, which is used to make steel, surged by 67 per cent in the first half of 2020 as China embarked on an infrastructure led recovery from the coronavirus.
- Responding to reports saying China has ordered a halt to imports of Australian coal, Chinese Customs said on Tue that it will strengthen import supervision on related products, asking reporters to consult relevant authorities for further information.
- Trade between China and Australia in the first three quarters went down 1.1%, with Chinese imports of Australian products down 5.1%: spokesperson of Chinese customs.
- Scott Morrison said the government was investigating the reports, but it was “important not to get ahead of ourselves here” because it was “not uncommon” for China to impose domestic quotas to support local coal production and jobs.
“That is not uncommon to see that and I can only assume, based on our relationship and based on the discussions we have with the Chinese government, that that is just part of their normal process,” the prime minister said in Brisbane on Tuesday. We’ll see, Scott. - Mongolia’s coal exports to China have been accelerating recently, as evidenced by the fact that coal transportation via truck has reached 1,000 units/day at the Ganqimaodu checkpoint in North China’s Inner Mongolia, the country’s largest import conduit for Mongolian coal, according to Chinese sources. A month ago the volume was only at about 600 trucks/day,
