Further signs that the trade spat between China and Australia has come to a close. In 2020, China placed trade restrictions on several Australian exports in response to the Australian government calling for an inquiry into the origins of covid. In late March, following negotiations and a thawing of Australia-China relations, one of the last remaining tariffs – on wine – was lifted.
In the coal trades, Kpler data shows that Australia exported more of the black raw material to China last month than to Japan – the first time this has happened in more than four years.
Australia’s exports of all grades of coal to China were 6.87m tonnes in April, the highest since November, while shipments of coal to Japan from Australia were 6.1m tonnes in April, down from 7.93m in March and the lowest since 5.97m recorded in April 2017.
Writing for Splash yesterday, Plamen Natzkoff, associate director covering dry bulk for Maritime Strategies International, warned that for the rest of 2024, the outlook for Chinese coal import demand is expected to decline considerably as the country’s hydropower generation recovers from a two-year slump.
