- China’s coal imports fall 6% in March due to high inventories and weak demand
- China’s domestic coal prices at 4-year lows, making imported coal less cost effective
- Coal import decline likely to continue due in part to squeezed profits
BEIJING, April 14 (Reuters) – China’s coal imports fell 6% in March, hurt by high inventories at ports and weak domestic demand that have pushed spot prices down to four-year lows.
Imports for the month were 38.73 million metric tons, down from 41.38 million tons in March 2024, according to the General Administration of Customs. That was the first monthly year-on-year decline for coal imports since March 2022, outside of the January-February period, when year-on-year comparisons are affected by the lunar new year holiday.
China’s domestic price for medium-grade coal with a heat value of 5,500 kilocalories per kilogram was 676 yuan ($92.70) per metric ton on April 11, the lowest since March 2021, according to the Bohai-Rim Bay thermal coal price index.
Miners in key supplier Indonesia, who face an upcoming hike in royalties and rising operational costs, have not lowered prices in line with the declines in China, pushing Chinese power plants to rely more on domestic supply.
China’s coal imports in January-February had risen to a record high for the period of 76.12 million metric tons, up 2% on the year. The drop for March was expected and declines are likely to continue for some months due to narrowing import profits and high port inventories.
China publishes data for the first two months of the year in a combined release to smooth out the impact of the Lunar New Year, which falls in either of those two months.
For the first three months of 2025, coal imports were at 114.85 million metric tons, down 0.9% from 115.89 million tons a year earlier, the data showed.
