Chinese coking industry calls for coke export tariff adjustment

Thursday, 24 September 2009 14:47:25 (GMT+3)   |  
       

In view of the shrinking coke demand and production overcapacity, China's coking industrial insiders recently suggested that the Chinese government should make an export tariff adjustment so as to stimulate coke exports.

Accordingly, China Coking Industry Association chairman Huang Jingan has stated that the country's coking industry has been seriously hit by the financial crisis. Mr. Huang said that, characterized by overcapacity of production, the domestic coking industry is now facing a decline of coke production and almost stagnant export activity, while coke producers are suffering heavy losses as production costs rise higher than the sales prices of coke.

According to the statistics, China's coke production in the first seven months of 2009 totaled 189 million mt, down 6.3 percent year on year; meanwhile, total exports reached 283,600 mt in the period in question, a slump of 96.6 percent year on year. Besides the demand shrinkage in the international market, Mr. Huang said that China's high tariffs on coke export also constitute one of the important factors contributing to the sharp fall in coke exports.

In recent years, China has issued increasingly strict export policies for the coking industry, which is classified as an industry with high energy consumption, high pollution, and which uses natural resources. Since the cancellation of the export rebates on coke exports in 2004, China's coke export tariffs have been hiked several times, from 15 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in 2008, Mr. Huang stated.


Similar articles

China’s coal imports to rise by 170 percent in 2009

24 Nov | Steel News

Chinese cold rolled prices keep rising on fluctuating trend

11 Nov | Flats and Slab

China’s cold rolled market still increases but at much slower pace

05 Nov | Flats and Slab

Inventory slips, prices trend up in Chinese cold rolled market

28 Oct | Flats and Slab

China’s GDP growth hits 8.9 percent in Q3

22 Oct | Steel News

Chinese iron ore market sees weak stability, reduced trading

16 Oct | Scrap & Raw Materials

Chinese hot rolled inventory soars, market fluctuates

13 Oct | Flats and Slab

China’s shipbuilding plate output down 37.7 percent in Jan-July

18 Sep | Steel News

Chinese cold rolled market trends sideways

16 Sep | Flats and Slab

Turkish stainless steel sector remains sluggish

16 Sep | Flats and Slab