Some sources familiar with the matter informed that China has been tightening the customs checks for coal imports which lead to a cut in the amount of the commodity entering the country due to lengthy processing delays at ports.
The country is cutting the imports through import quotas and quality restrictions on downstream users after it posted the fifth consecutive month of record inflows. Beijing is finding ways to support the struggling domestic coal miners.
In the January-May period, China imported a total of 148.71 million tonnes of coal, showing a 16.8% climb.
The decision resulted in up to 90 days of import clearance from the previous 30 days customs clearance. There are also sporadic cases reported on import denial at this moment, with more ports that may strictly implement the quota policy.
A Fuzhou port official said that the general customs bureau had set import quotas on utilities and the port authority had denied entry for some shipments that did not conform to quotas.
“I don’t know how or when exactly the quotas were set, but they were lower than previous years and seemed insufficient,” said the official under the condition of anonymity
Fuzhou port also would not allow the mooring of a cargo chartered by a power utility that had exceeded its import quota of 1.2 million tonnes in 2020.
Analysts expected that as the result of the policy, China’s coal imports in the second quarter of 2020 might be halved year-on-year.
The General Administration of Customs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
