Posted on 16 Nov 2018
Chinese coal production in October rose by 7.6% on the year to 9.8m tonnes/day (305m tonnes), further alleviating any near-term need to increase imports, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Thursday.
In response – and amid high stocks and government restrictions on imports – Chinese coal and lignite imports last month fell in October to a five-month low of 744,000t/day, Montel reported.
Domestic output in the first 10 months of the year was meanwhile a marginal 1.6% higher than in January-October 2017, at 2.9bn tonnes, the data showed.
“For the near future, [Chinese coal] demand is expected to remain bearish,” said an analyst with a trading house, adding the coal burn at coastal plants was lingering at below five-year lows.
“Current inventories are adequate and macro data indicates slack [industrial] activity,” she said.
Montel reported earlier Asia-Pacific coal prices faced further losses as China imposed stricter restrictions on imports and the market remained well supplied.
