After Two-Year Veto China Begins Orders for Australian Coal

A Chinese firm, China Energy Investment Corp has placed an order to import Australian coal, in the first deal since an unofficial ban was enacted by China more than two years ago, says a report from Reuters.

Citing industry sources, Australian media reports said the move was a sign that a gradual resumption of Chinese imports of Australian coal was likely.

According to the report, Australia was China's second-largest coal supplier before the unofficial ban, which came after political ties between the two trading partners broke down in 2020.

Thereafter, coal shipments from Australia to China, which had accounted for nearly a quarter of all Australian coal supplies in 2019, fell to nearly zero in 2021 and 2022.

In the wake of the breakdown in trade with China, Australia as one of the worlds world’s top coal exporters, has boosted shipments to India, Japan and South Korea to replace lost trade with China.

With China removing its Covid-10 restrictions the country is now ramping up its search for coal supplies because of higher power consumption.

#coal #china #australia