Source: General Administration of Customs' Website
According to the Customs statistics, in January-October this year, China exported the coal of 38.28 million tons, drop by 11.5 % , accounting for USD 4.17 billion and increasing by 58.5%; the average export price accounted for USD 109/ton, increasing by 79.2 %. In October, China exported the coal of 2.561 million tons, accounting for USD 380 million, so as to drop by 51.2 % and increase by 12.5 % respectively; the average export price accounted for USD 150.3 / ton, increasing by 1.3 times.
In January-October this year, China imported the coal of 35.92 million tons, drop by 15.2% , accounting for USD 3.01 billion and increasing by 53.3%; the average import price accounted for USD 83.7/ton, increasing by 80.8%. In October, China exported the coal of 3.486 million tons, accounting for USD 390 million, so as to drop by 6.3 % and increase by 1.2 times; the average import price accounted for USD 111.4/ ton, increasing by 1.3 times.
Main features of China's import and export of the coal from January to October this year:
I. The ordinary trade is deemed as the major import & export mode. In January-October this year, China exported the coal of 37.95 million tons via ordinary trade mode, decreasing by 12%, accounting for 99.1% of China's coal export in total at the same period. During this period, the coal of 25.25 million tons was imported via the ordinary mode, drop by 11.8%, accounting for 70.3 % of China's coal import in total. Meanwhile, the coal of 10.13 million tons was imported via the border trade in small amount, drop by 25.8 %, accounting for 28.2 %.
II. Beijing and Hebei are the major exporters, while Guangdong and Guangxi are the major importers. In January-October this year, Beijing exported the coal of 20.32 million tons, drop by 15 %; Hebei exported the coal of 10.22 million tons, drop by 3.4 %; the export volume of the coal from Beijing and Hebei accounted for 79.8 % of China's coal export in total. At the same period, Guangdong imported the coal of 10.35 million tons, drop by 13.7 %; Guangxi imported the coal of 8.05 million tons, drop by 26.2%; the import volume from Guangdong and Guangxi accounted for 51.2% of China's coal import in total.
III. ROK, Japan and Taiwan are the major importers, while ASEAN is the major exporter. In January-October this year, China exported the coal of 13.75 million tons to ROK, drop by 12.5%; the coal of 11.11 million tons was exported to Japan, drop by 13.4 %; the coal of 8.95 million tons was exported to Taiwan Province, drop by 11.3%; the export volume of the coal from above countries and region accounted for 88.3% of China's coal export in total. At the same period, China imported the coal of 26.7 million tons from ASEAN, drop by 16.8%, accounting for 74.3% of China's coal import in total.
IV. The state-owned enterprises are the major exporters, while the private enterprises are the main importers. In January-October this year, China's state-owned enterprises exported the coal of 37.84 million tons, drop by 12.1%, accounting for 98.9% of China's coal export in total. At the same period, the private enterprises imported the coal of 21.87 million tons, drop by 23.5%, accounting for 60.9 % of China's coal import in total.
V. China mainly exports the bituminous coal and imports the anthracite. In January-October this year, China exported the bituminous coal of 32.79 million tons, drop by 16 %, accounting for 85.7% of China's coal export in total. At the same period, China imported the anthracite of 17.75 million tons, drop by 24.6 %, accounting for 49.4 % of China's coal import in total.
At the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission released the first batch of export quotas which accounts for 31.8 million tons. The second batch of the export quotas would be postponed from July or August to November 3; also, the total quantity thereof only accounted for 15 million tons. Thus, the total quantity in this year failed to exceed 48 million tons1. Thus, the total coal export for the whole year was effectively controlled. However, at the second half of the year, the global coal price was sharply declined due to the financial crisis. On October 24, the global coal price per ton has been less than USD 100 and lowered to USD 96/ton, decreased by USD 94 as compared with the peak value at the beginning of July. The decline thereof was close to 50%2, but the coal price in China was USD 30-40/ ton3 higher than that in the world market. In addition, on August 20, the government once again declared to improve the temporary tax rate for the export of the coking coal. Meanwhile, the export tax was levied for other bituminous coal, so as to increase the export cost of the coal. Thus, the enterprises' positivity of export was obviously baffled. In this case, the recent coal export was sharply lowered.
Meanwhile, due to the influence of financial crisis, the global economy slows down. Also, the enterprises further the efforts on energy-saving. Thus, China's coal demand has decelerated since this August and the supply and demand of the coal tend to be balanced. The market price was quickly declined after rising at the first half of the year. In addition, the stocking coal at the ports and the electric power enterprises was increased. According to the statistics from China's Coal Industry Society, as of the end of September, China has the coal reserve of around 160 million tons, increasing by 15 tons as compared with that at the end of August, up by 10%, among which, the coal enterprises had the reserve of 32 million tons, increasing by 2.52 million tons as compared with those at the end of August, up by 8.5%. For the civil coal reserve, the coal reserve in the electric power plant was dramatically increased. As of October 12, the coal reserve of 38.42 million tons was available for the grid and the electric power plants, increasing by 10.47 million tons as compared with those at the end of August, so as to be prepared for 20 days1. The increase of the reserve caused the supply exceeds demand. Thus, the domestic coal price would be further declined and the motivation of import was obviously weak.
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