Australia, one of the largest coking coal exporters across the globe witnessed a marginal decline in its monthly coal exports during Aug’16 and stood at 31.8 MnT.
Australian coal exports — both metallurgical and thermal stood at 31.8 MnT in Aug’16 with a downfall of 1% compared to Jul’16. While, coal exports recorded a significant fall of 10% in Aug’16 from 35.4 MnT in Aug’15 Y-o-Y, as per the latest updates by Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Out of the total exports, the country shipped more than 50% Steam coal to different destinations and rest quantity comprises Hard coking, Semi Soft coking, other metallurgical and Anthracite coal.
| Grades | Aug-16 | Jul-16 | % Change |
| Steaming Coal | 15.7 | 17.4 | -10% |
| Hard Coking Coal | 10.3 | 9.8 | 5% |
| Semi Soft Coking | 5.5 | 4.7 | 19% |
| Other Metallurgical | 0.3 | 0.1 | 106% |
| Anthracite | – | 0.1 | -100% |
| Total | 31.8 | 32.1 | -1% |
Source: Australian Customs
Quantity in MnT
For the first eight months of the year (Jan’16-Aug’16), the country has shipped total quantity of around 252.7 MnT coal worldwide, down by 2% from 256.8 MnT at the same period last year.
Presently, Australian coal Coking coal prices are hitting up in the global market as driven by sudden rise in Chinese coal demand and production cut. Current offers for premium coking coal is assessed at USD 236/MT, FoB for Nov’16 shipments.
However, Indian demand have also boosted due to rising crude steel capacity by Indian steel giants for the fiscal. Trade in Sep’16 stood at 4.2 MnT in India which was at 3.8 MnT in Aug’16. India’s monthly average exports exceeding more than 4 MnT in the running year from 3.5 MnT in 2015 (Jan-Jun).
Major Coal Export Destinations in Aug’16
The country has been exporting more than 80% of coal to its top 5 export destinations every month such as Japan (31%), China (17%), Korea (13%), India (12%) and Taipei (10%).
Japan is one of the largest buyers of Australian coal as the country’s whole steel industry is largely dependent on Australian imported grades. Out of the total export in the year, the country shipped about 30% of coal to Japan.
Japan took about 9.7 MnT coal in Aug’16; Down by 8% compared to last month. While, yearly import fell by 17%, which was 11.7 MnT in Aug’15.
China, the second-largest coal importer during the month, imported about 5.2 MnT coal in Aug’16, with a significant fall of 26% compared to 7.1 MnT in Jul’16. While, the nation’s yearly import from Australia also recorded a fall of 7%, which was 5.7 MnT in Aug’15.
Korea, the third-largest coal importer from Australia in Aug’16, imported about 4 MnT coal during the month, recorded a growth by 4% which was 3.8 MnT in Jul’16. While, import moved down by 21% Y-o-Y.
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