Chinese authorities have verbally told domestic steel mills to stop purchases of Australian coal starting on November 6. The order came as the most sweeping retaliatory measures against Australia amid deteriorating bilateral ties. Beijing also unofficially bans imports of Australian sugar, timber, barley, lobster, wine, as well as copper ore and concentrate, but exempts Australian iron ore, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
China’s Ministry of Commerce held a meeting on November 2, talking about import policies, including curbs on Australian coals. One of the meeting’s results, Australian coals arriving in China before November 6 are required for port clearance. Cargoes arriving after the deadline would be waiting at the port. Meanwhile, contracts signed before the date would need to be suspended if the shipment could not arrive at the port before November 6.
Some market participants expected limited impact from the policy as many Chinese end-users had been looking for alternative suppliers. These companies imported 390,000 tons of premium coking coal from non-Australian suppliers in October, compared to zero in the same month last year. One of them also said that current inventories would likely be sufficient until January.
