China’s imported coal supplies are under pressure amid a prolonged ban on Australian imports that shows “no sign of being lifted in the near term”, and new restrictions at the border with Mongolia, reported the South China Morning Post.
Coal imports into China for the first two months of 2021 fell nearly 40% compared to a year ago, according to China customs data, despite Russian exports looking to fill the gap caused by the Australian ban, S&P Global Market Intelligence said.
Mongolia enacted stricter checks at the key border crossing at Ganqimaodu a week ago after a worker at its nearby copper mine tested positive for coronavirus, slowing down coking coal deliveries into China, Mysteel Global analyst Sean Xie said.
The ban on Australian coal – now in its sixth month – remains in force, with analysts not expecting any Australian shipments to be allowed into Chinese ports this month.