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Advance as China prepares to receive Australia’s first official coal shipment in more than two years
- China imports Australian coal after two-year official ban
- Coking coal shipment to arrive in February, according to state media
- The thaw in relations between the two nations follows.
China is set to receive its first official shipment of Australian coal in more than two years, according to state media.
Some 72,000 tonnes of coking coal from Australia is expected to arrive at Zhanjiang port in south China’s Guangdong province on February 8, according to government publication Global Times.
It is one of the most significant steps in thawing relations between the two nations since the Albanian Labor government was elected after China boycotted Australian goods as part of a bitter break with the previous Morrison government.
Australia sent its first export shipment of coal to China in more than two years (pictured, coal stacked in the port of Newcastle in New South Wales)
The coal cargo left the North Queensland HPCT dock on January 24.
The coking coal will be delivered to a steel mill, according to the Global Times.
By coal export standards, the shipment is a modest amount and the Global Times warned that “it will take time for more Chinese companies to regain confidence on the Australian side.”
As long as the Albanian government stays on the right side of Beijing, China is likely to start importing larger amounts of Australian thermal and coking coal as it looks to expand its suppliers.
Three major energy suppliers in China are believed to have been given the go-ahead to import Australian coal.
The first shipment of Australian coal in two years will arrive in China at the end of February (pictured, coal ships off Hay Point in Queensland)
“More coal should arrive in China in the rest of the year from sources such as Australia, particularly in March, as demand picked up after steel plants resumed production after the Spring Festival holiday,” a buyer said. to Global Times.
However, the current high price of coal and weak demand in China mean it may take some time for trade to pick up where it left off.
In 2019, Australia exported about $13.7 billion worth of coal to China.
But the sudden refusal in 2020 to take Australian coal meant coal ships had to turn back while at sea.
Meanwhile, Australia diversified by finding other international buyers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year in a sign of improving relations between the two nations following Beijing’s discontent with the Morrison government.
The nation’s combined coal exports, including coking and thermal coal, are forecast to generate $132bn in 2022-23, surpassing iron ore as Australia’s most lucrative export.
In 2022, China imported 63.838 million tons of coking coal, with Mongolia, Russia and Canada being the main suppliers.
The Albanian government has vowed to take a different course in its relations with China compared to the Morrison government, which clashed with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The break was over several issues, including Australia’s call to investigate the origins of Covid and stronger rhetoric from Canberra warning of China’s targets in the region and its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
A major turning point was signaled when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had an unscheduled meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali last November.
It marked the first such meeting of Australian and Chinese national leaders in six years.