China expects increase in coal imports next year
On a recent national coal forum, Wang Zhanjun, the chief of the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association, said the nation’s coal import volume has increased sharply this year, and it will keep a going up trend in 2013, adding that China would remain a net importer of coal despite the large domestic coal producing volume, SinoShipNews reports.
According to statistics from the association, China imported about 245m tons of coal in the first 11 months this year, a year-on-year growth of 34.9%.
"The amount of imported coal has grown steadily over the past three years due to the decline of the prices in the international market and low shipping costs," said Han Lei, an analyst in the coal industry. "Globally, the demand for coal continued to drop this year, influenced by the sluggish economy in the developed world and the development of shale gas in the US, the supply from major coal exporters like Indonesia and Australia has been growing, creating strains of oversupply," Han added.
In the meantime, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) also announced it will cancel its one-year control on thermal coal prices from January 1st, 2013.
