China Oct coal export down 51 pct
China coal export amounts to 2.56 million tonnes in October this year, down 51% year on year from 5.25 million tonnes in Oct last year, according to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
In the period of Jan-Oct this year, China exported 38.28 million tonnes of coal, dropping 11.5% from a year earlier of 43.26 million tonnes, the customs said.
The low export volume is attributed to tighter export quotas and declining international coal price.
China issued the second batch of coal export quotas of 15.9 million tonnes in early November, which is later than expected. The export quota in 2008 totaled 47.7 million tonnes, of which the first export quota was 31.8 million tonnes.
According to the globalCOAL NEWC Index, the international coal price fell below $100 a ton in late October, but rebounded to $104.02 in the week ended Nov. 7
Coke exports dropped 12% to 11.58 million tonnes in the first ten months, with October exports at 530,000 tonnes, down 62.7% from 1.42 million tonnes a year earlier.
Tags: coal, export, exports