Roughly 72,000t of Australian coal is set to arrive in the Chinese city of Zhanjiang, marking the first cargoes to be exported to China since the unofficial ban was lifted in early January 2023.
China is set to receive the coal in early February 2023, according to traders and ship tracking data, and traders will be paying attention to how easily the shipments pass customs for signs that the informal ban is truly over and in the hopes of sending more Australian coal to China.
The unofficial ban on imports has been in place since 2020.
Australian thermal coal for power generation and metallurgical coal for steelmaking are favoured by Chinese consumers for their high quality. China’s coal demand is forecast to rise in the upcoming months amid an expected economic rebound after Beijing rolled back its zero-COVID strategy.
The metallurgical coal was loaded onto bulk vessel Magic Eclipse at Hay Point on 23 January 2023 and is expected to arrive at the southern Chinese city of Zhanjiang in Guangdong province in early February, Refinitiv and Kpler ship tracking data showed.
China’s top steelmaker Baowu Group bought the cargo, according to a trader familiar with the deal and the ship tracking data.
Baowu is one of the four government-backed firms given permission from China’s state planner in early January to purchase Australian coal. The company has 12.25 million tonnes of annual steelmaking capacity at its Zhanjiang base.
Another bulk vessel, the BBC Maryland, is carrying about 12,000t of thermal coal from the Australian port of Newcastle and heading to the eastern Chinese city of Changshu, Kpler data showed. The cargo is scheduled to arrive on 10 February.
China Energy Investment Corp purchased at least two cargoes of Australian coal, Reuters reported in early January 2023. China’s local media reported that the other two firms given approval to buy Australian coal have also placed orders.
Other Chinese utilities and steelmakers that are not on Beijing’s list of approved importers are still waiting to resume imports.
Customs officials in five major eastern and southern Chinese cities have said that there is no specific requirement for companies importing Australian coal during the customs declaration process.
However, it was unclear if the customs authorities would clear cargoes purchased by companies other than the four approved ones.
