Japan: Coal Imports Down 2% Y-o-Y in CY19

Coal imports by Japan have dropped 2% on the year, as it extended its fall during CY19 weighed down by high coal inventories, gradually recovering nuclear output and maintenance shutdowns.

Data provided by Japanese customs indicate that the country had imported 192.42 MnT coal in CY19 as against 196.33 MnT noted in CY18. Apparently, the import volume had attained a 7-year low total in the process.

Weakened demand for coal-fired power generation led to lower intake of thermal coal during the year.

A grade-wise break indicates that Japan’s non-coking coal imports decreased 2% Y-o-Y to 128.54 MnT in CY19 compared with 130.98 MnT in CY18, along with the downslide in Anthracite coke shipments which fell 6% Y-o-Y to 5.7 MnT in CY19.

Japan’s coking coal imports were largely unchanged in CY19, despite a slowdown in steel production that could lead to cuts in contract volumes in the future. Intake of coking coal was marked 43.05 MnT in CY19 as against 43.4 MnT in CY18.

Japanese steel mills expending their own coke production resulted in a lower demand for met coke imports which registered a decline of 55% on the year to 0.76 MnT in CY19.

Japan Grade-wise Coal Imports

Source: Japanese Customs | Quantity in MnT

Major Coal Exporters:

The downturn in Japanese coal intake was mainly driven by a drop in shipments from its major suppliers-Australia and Indonesia, which had overturned the rise seen in intake from Russia, US and Canada.

Australian coal export to Japan was down 6% Y-o-Y to 109.27 MnT in CY19 compared with 116.11 MnT in CY18. Coal exports by the second-largest supplier-Indonesia, decreased 2% Y-o-Y to 28.15 MnT in CY19.

Coal receipt from Russia continued its growth on the Y-o-Y basis, which was marked at 20.18 MnT in CY19. Besides, a hefty rise in coal intake from US and Canada was recorded in CY19, which had supplied 17.54 MnT and 10.66 MnT coal respectively, to Japan during the year.