Coal imports taken by Japan dropped 14% on the month as the country accelerated its steel output cuts, in line with weaker demand from the manufacturing sector.
Data provided by Japanese customs indicate that coal volumes which totaled 14.82 MnT in Feb’20 had fell below the 15 MnT mark for the first time since Jun’19. Besides, the steep M-o-M decline witnessed from 17.2 MnT in Jan’20, imports had also noted modest fall Y-o-Y from 14.89 MnT in Feb’19.
The major contributor in the decline was attributed to the subdued intake of coking coal, which had decreased 36% on the month to 2.67 MnT in Feb’20.
Another essential ingredient for steel industry-Met Coke’s imports plunged by 67% from a month earlier to 0.01 MnT in Feb’20 as Japanese steel mills relied more on domestically produced coke.
In addition, there was a tepid demand seen for non-coking coal as well, which came down 4% M-o-M to 10.63 MnT in Feb’20.
| Grade | Feb’20 | Jan’20 | % Change |
| Non Coking Coal | 10.63 | 11.07 | -4% |
| Coking Coal | 2.67 | 4.16 | -36% |
| Pet Coke | 0.36 | 0.62 | -42% |
| Anthracite | 0.32 | 0.51 | -37% |
| Met Coke | 0.01 | 0.03 | -67% |
| Others | 0.82 | 0.82 | 0% |
| Grand Total | 14.82 | 17.2 | -14% |
Source: Japanese customs
Quantity in MnT
Major Coal Exporters:
Australia remained the major coal supplier in Feb’20. However, tepid demand for coking coal coupled with higher spot prices made Japanese customers less interested in procuring cargoes from the country.
Australian coal exports were down 19% M-o-M to 8.41 MnT in Feb’20, which was also marked 6% lower on the year from 8.95 MnT in Feb’19.
Coal shipments from Indonesia increased to 3.2 MnT in Feb’20, up by 20% from the previous month. While volume supplied by Russia were at 1.26 MnT, down by 14% on the month.
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