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China-Australia relations
Economy

China-Australia relations: coal shipments continue but remain stuck off Chinese coast amid ban

  • Some Chinese buyers were guessing that ports might clear shipments of thermal coal to meet summer demand, but relations with Australia keep getting worse
  • Analysts say none of the coal-filled ships appeared to have been unloaded or cleared customs in China

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Australian coal, seen here at the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, has been banned from entering China, resulting in ships being stuck off the Chinese coast. Photo: AFP
Su-Lin Tan

Australian miners have continued shipping small amounts of coal to China since the start of the year despite an unofficial ban on their coal imports, and those shipments have not been cleared by Chinese customs to enter the country.

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Some analysts said miners were hoping that China would at least lift the ban for thermal coal ahead of the peak summer electricity-generation period, but there has been no indication that this may happen. Moreover, given the continued deterioration of communication channels between Beijing and Canberra, the prospects of any thawing in relations appear remote.
Amid worsening bilateral ties, China unofficially banned Australian coal in October, leaving dozens of vessels waiting off its coast. Over the ensuing months, some docked to release crew members, though cargoes were never cleared, and some were redirected to other markets.

But in February, sales data provided by analysts showed that 180,000 tonnes of coking coal departed from the port of Hay Point in Queensland, one of Australia’s key coal terminals, bound for China. Australian customs recorded that a similar-sized shipment was dispatched, but the port source was not identified, according to Wood Mackenzie Vesseltracker, which provides maritime data.

Coking coal is used in steelmaking, whereas thermal coal is used to generate electricity.

Commodity and energy price agency Argus Media also tracked two 75,000-tonne shipments of mainly thermal coal leaving the Port of Newcastle in the state of New South Wales in February, bound for the Chinese ports of Xiamen and Bayuquan.

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