Emily Murphy
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HINA has cleared most of the Australian coal that had been held at Chinese ports due to a coal import ban, according to Fengkuang Coal Logistics.The data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on January 21 shows that 5.6 million tonnes of Australian coking coal that was detained in Hong Kong – including 706,000 tonnes in October, 2.67 million tonnes in November, and 2.42 million tonnes in December – has been released.
China has historically been reliant on Australian high-grade coking coal, however, in the wake of the import ban, China has turned its sights to North America.
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Throughout 2021, China imported 9.29 million tonnes of US coking coal, a 977.4 per cent increase on the previous year, taking its coking coal imports to 18.7 per cent of China’s imports, according to Fengkuang Coal Logistics.
In December, the import volume of Canadian coking coal increased by 23 per cent from the previous month to 1.11 million tonnes.
In 2021, the cumulative import of Canadian coking coal was 8.4 million tonnes, an increase of 98.62 per cent from 2020.
The import volume almost doubled, and the import share of Canadian coking coal accounted for 16.9 per cent, whereas Australia’s coking coal imports accounted for 11.3 per cent.
In 2021, Mongolia’s coking coal imports fell by almost 41 per cent to 12.74 million tonnes, and coking coal imports accounted for 25.7 per cent of China’s imports.
The Fengkuang report outlines that there is still great uncertainty on the future of the coking coal import market in 2022.
This includes whether new Australian coal will be imported, and the impact on Mongolian coal customs clearance.
China imported 6.79 million tonnes of coking coal in December, a decrease of 3.28 per cent from the previous month.
The cumulative import of coking coal for 2021 was 49.6 million tonnes, a decrease of 16.2 million from the same period last year or 24.6 per cent.
Indonesia issues rules to shore up domestic coal supplies -document
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NDONESIA has issued a new regulation aimed at ensuring coal miners sell part of their output to the domestic market, or face operational suspensions and risk mining permits being revoked, according to the regulation document reviewed by Reuters.Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, on Jan. 1 imposed a month-long ban on coal exports after officials said miners had failed to fulfil their so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) to sell a quarter of their output locally, with a price cap of $70 per tonne for power generators.
The ban was imposed to secure domestic supply after the state power company reported a critically low supply of the fuel at power generators.
According to the regulation signed by the energy minister, coal miners must report the fulfilment of their monthly DMO requirement to the energy ministry within 10 days of the end of each month. The regulation took effect on Jan. 19.
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Companies that did not meet their DMO will be fined, while those producing coal with specifications unsuitable for domestic needs would have to make a "compensation payment".
Miners faced a "temporary suspension of all production operations for a maximum period of 60 calendar days" if they failed to pay fines within a month, according to the regulation.
Furthermore, companies failing to make fine payments after 60 days would have their mining permits revoked, it said.
Meanwhile, miners will not be allowed to export if they have not yet met their DMO. Exports suspensions will also be slapped on coal traders who fail to fulfil contracts with domestic buyers.
Mining companies and traders that were the subject of coal export bans prior to the issuance of the new rules are also required to pay a penalty for coal distribution shortages for the January-July 2021 period, according to the regulation.
As of Jan. 20, Indonesia has lifted a coal export ban for 139 companies.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe, Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Ed Davies) Source: Reuters
Indonesia's coal exports face delays on logistical hurdles, despite eased ban
Author: Rituparna Nath, Suyash Pande, Pritish Raj, Nicholas Zhang; Editor: Norazlina Jumaat
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ELAYS in shipment of Indonesia's thermal coal continued due to logistical bottlenecks and impeding paperwork, market sources said Jan. 25, even after the three-week blanket ban on coal exports was eased on Jan. 20."We are still waiting for a final green light from the government to sail out; some routine paperwork is also taking time," an Indonesia-based producer said. "We have to clear a lot of pending orders from January that was halted due to the export ban, so we're waiting to first fulfill those contracts."
Some producers said there was a shortage of barges even for local supplies.
"Tugs and barges are always affected during this time of the year due to the wet season and the Navy may even be deployed to look for them adrift in Indonesian waters," a source said.
Another Indonesia-based producer said: "The monsoon is making it difficult to get barges; the second issue is the long queue at power plants to discharge cargoes."
This delay comes at a time when the thermal coal market is tight as a result of the export ban, which led to a supply shortage in key destinations and an increase in prices. Platts had assessed Indonesia's 4,200 kcal/kg GAR at $68/mt FOB on Jan. 24, up from $63.45/mt FOB on Dec. 31, 2021.
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Market participants expect a short-term upswing in spot prices amid anticipated supply tightness due to order backlogs for January, S&P Global Platts reported earlier. "I expect prices to be higher since spot cargoes are hard to find," a trader said.
Miners said since the export ban was enforced for more than half of January, the shipment laycans have been delayed and will likely spill over to February.
"We cannot make fresh deals till the time existing contracts are fulfilled," another miner said.
On Dec. 31, 2021, Indonesia imposed a blanket ban on overseas sale of coal for the entire month of January to prioritize domestic supplies as inventories ran low. Mid-January onwards, the ban was eased for some miners who had fulfilled their domestic market obligation, or DMO, under which miners have an obligation to supply 25% of their annual production to the domestic market at a capped price.
Miners are also compelled to keep barges aside for local supplies before concluding overseas deals as the energy ministry has proposed reviewing DMO on a monthly basis instead of annually.
Indonesia produced 606.71 million mt of coal in 2021 as against 565.69 million mt in 2020. It exported 314.9 million mt in 2021 compared with 331.94 million mt in 2020, according to Minerba One Data Indonesia. In January 2021, the country exported 29.3 million mt.