Hotter China equals spike in global coal exports?

With intense shipment activity from Indonesia last week, weekly global coal exports came at a seasonal record of 30.6Mt last week, only 1Mt below the current record in Mar’23.

A chart displaying the evolution of World Coal Exports from January to December, comparing data from 2022, 2023, and 2024, with each year represented by different colors from the IG color palette. Additionally, a shadow range in grey color represents the 5-year variation.

With hot-summer weather settling in China, the consumption at the main coastal coal-fired power plants experienced peaks up to 0.95Mt/day leading to stock draws and days covers nearing to its alert threshold at 15 days of cover. The pull for coal imports came despite Chinese media CCTV reporting China Railway’s coal loadings up +5.6% YoY to all-time highs in June and railings along the strategic Datong-Qinhuangdao railways exceeding 1Mt/day in July.

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