There was notable increase in Anthracite Coal imports in China in Aug’17, and that was due to the significantly higher prices of Coking Coal in Australia; steel makers there had preferred blending Anthracite Coal with Coking Coal in steel production to tackle the impacts of high Coking Coal prices. During Aug’17, Coking Coal was sold at around USD 192.5/MT to USD 203.5/MT FoB by Australian sellers.
In another remarkable aspect, imports of the coal from North Korea had resumed in the month despite there was a ban on coal imports from that country. For details, refer to: China Bans Coal Imports from North Korea for 2017
Possibly, the resumption of imports of the coal from North Korea was forced by the impact of the significantly high Coking Coal prices in Australia. Besides, the share of the Anthracite Coal imports in the month from North Korea was the highest among the countries of import.
Source: CoalMint Research
The following table shows the break-up the imports in terms of the country of import:
| Quantity in MnT | ||||
| COUNTRY OF IMPORT | Aug’17 | Jul’17 | CHANGE(%) | Jan-Aug’17 |
| North Korea | 1.63 | 0.00 | NA | 4.31 |
| Russia | 0.84 | 0.56 | 51.02 | 4.51 |
| Australia | 0.08 | 0.02 | 405.33 | 0.87 |
| Vietnam | 0.02 | 0.02 | -6.27 | 0.24 |
| Mongolia | 0.01 | 0.01 | 88.09 | 0.03 |
| TOTAL | 2.59 | 0.60 | 329.47 | 9.95 |
Source: CoalMint Research
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