China to Levy Temporarily Low Tariffs in 2010

China's Ministry of Finance said that it will levy temporarily low tariffs on coal import in 2010.

The tariff cut aims to ease the short supply of coal in the country amid the economic recovery.

Reportedly, China's coal imports hit a record 11.1 million tons in October, 219.5% more than in the same period of last year, fueled by increasing demand. In the first ten months of this year, coal imports grew 172% year on year to reach 96.90 million tons.

Analysts expected that China's coal import for this year would total 114.2 million tons and would drop to 92.43 million in 2010.