China’s coal imports reached 39.43 million tonnes in October, down 5.52 percent from a year earlier and down 9.08 percent from September, according to customs data reported by Sxcoal. The average import price was $120.90 a tonne, up 69.36 percent year on year. Year to date imports amounted to 392.96 million tonnes, up 1.38 percent. Bloomberg reporting of the same customs release put the fall at 5.5 percent, with volumes below 40 million tonnes for the first time since May.
Production controls at top supplier Indonesia continued to drag on imports. Chinese thermal coal burn and import demand now hinge on winter restocking: nationally dispatched power plants held about 210 million tonnes of coal, or 35 days of cover, on October 25, close to the three year average, according to National Energy Administration figures cited in shipping analysis.
The Mining Weekly pool headline put the fall at 6 percent year on year; the customs based figures support 5.5 percent, and this story uses the customs based number. For exporters in Indonesia and Australia, a high price with falling volume is the signal that matters: buyers are paying more per tonne while taking fewer tonnes, which points to supply restriction rather than weak Chinese demand alone.