Australia Coal Exports Increase 11% M-o-M in Mar’17

Coal Exports have increased after falling for the last two months of Jan-Feb’17.

Australia, largest coal exporter in the world has witnessed an increase in their monthly exports. The country has exported 29.73 MnT coal in Mar’17 against 26.79 MnT in Feb’`17, as per Vessel lineup data maintained by SteelMint Research.

Australia mainly exports Coking and Non-Coking grades of coal. Coking coal exports fell marginally by 0.48% M-o-M to 14.83 MnT in Mar’17, while that of Non-Coking coal has increased by 25% M-o-M to 14.89 MnT.

Major Importing Countries:
Japan received the major share of coal shipments from Australia followed by China, Korea, India and Taiwan.

Japan imported 9.29 MnT coal with an increase of 7% M-o-M compared with 8.70 MnT in Feb’17.

China, second-largest coal importer, acquired 7.33 MnT in Mar’17 against 5.66 MnT in Feb’17.

Korea, third-largest coal importer, witness downfall in their monthly coal imports by 10% M-o-M to 2.68 MnT in Mar’17.

                                                Source: SteelMint Research, Customs
                                                 Provisional Data

Coking Coal Exports:
Spot prices of Australian Coking Coal remained stable during the month due to low import demand from Chinese steel makers. However, Exports from Australia will remain disrupted for the next four to five weeks due to damages caused by the Debbie cyclone to rail lines.

As a consequence of the damages caused to the rail network, spot prices of the Premium HCC has risen to USD 182.50/MT FoB Australia; likewise, spot prices of the 64 Mid Vol HCC also has gone up to USD 157/MT FoB Australia.

China is the top coking coal importer from Australia in Mar’17. The country recorded growth of 25% M-o-M to 5.36 MnT.

Imports from China has been continuously increasing since Jan’17, while that from the second largest importer Japan has been continuously declining during the same period.

Other major imports of Coking coal include India, Korea and Taiwan.

                                                     Source: SteelMint Research, Customs
                                                     Provisional Data

Non-Coking Coal Exports:
Japan remained the major Non-Coking coal importer from Australia. Japan received 6.66 MnT coal in Mar’17 registering a growth of 21% M-o-M.

Other major coal importer includes China, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand.

                                                                       Source: SteelMint Research, Customs
                                                                       Provisional Data

Port-wise Exports:
Newcastle port handles the majority of Coal shipments in Mar’17 followed by DBCT, Gladstone, Hay Point and Abbot point.

Quantities in MnT