Coal imports surge in Guangdong

Coal imports surge in Guangdong

Latest statistics from Gongbei Customs show that coal imports at China’s Guangdong port during January-February 2005 totaled 1.354 million tons at $69.312 million in trade value. This data indicate a 75.9% rise in tonnage and a 1.5-fold increase in trade value year-on-year. Anthracite, at 716’000 tons, accounted for more than half of all coal imports through the first two months of 2005. Coking coal imports reached 205’000 thousand tons, up 49.6%, while imports of other varieties of coal totaled 433’000 tons. Prices of coal imports rose as well over the past year. Coking coal prices for instance, soared more than 50%. The average coking coal import price through the first two months of 2005 was $112.3/ton, up 52.4% year on year. The average anthracite import price reached $37/ton, up 44.1%, while the average import price of other coal reached $45.7/ton, rising 41.8% year-on-year. Coal imports from Indonesia and Russia quickly expanded in Guangdong. Indonesian imports totaled 186’000 tons, a nearly four-fold increase from the previous year. Russia, which did not ship coal to Guangdong the previous year, sent 118’000 tons of coal through the first two months of 2005. In addition, coal imports from Vietnam reached 716’000 thousand tons through February 2005, up 52.1% year-on-year, while Australia shipped 266’000 tons of coal, up 36.8%.