China's thermal coal imports in April spiked to the highest since December 2020, propelled by strong demand due to clear price advantages against Chinese domestic coal.
China imported 30.98 million tonnes of thermal coal – including non-coking bituminous coal, sub-bituminous coal and lignite – last month, surging 65.69% from April 2022, customs data showed. This was also 4.44% higher the month-ago level.
The imports were valued at $3.07 billion, up 25.79% year on year and 4.76% month on month. The average import price was calculated at $99.11/t, falling 24.08% year on year yet edging up 0.3% month on month.
Accumulated imports totaled 105 million tonnes from January to April, soaring 86.72% year on year, with value up 61.65% to $11.04 billion.
Lignite imports in April rose 29.67% on the year to 15.4 million tonnes, despite a 10.3% fall from the previous month. Value of the imports amounted to $1.18 billion, down 8.57% year on year and 10.24% month on month. The average lignite import price was calculated at $76.9/t in the month, down 29.49% year on year but almost flat from March.
Lignite imports in the first four months were 57.29 million tonnes, up 80.85% on the year; value of the imports rose 51.82% to $4.66 billion.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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