Russian seaborne coal supplies to China skyrocket

(MENAFN) Russian seaborne coal supplies to China skyrocketed 55 percent to 6.2 million tons in the first 28 days of June against the same period in 2021, based on S&P’s Commodities at Sea database. In May, deliveries also increased by 20 percent yearly to 5.5 million tons.

S&P Global Market Intelligence Associate Director Pranay Shukla updated CNBC “Despite lower demand and higher domestic coal production, China has been buying significantly [more] Russian coal since May 2022,” claiming “This is because Russia has been offering very steep discounts on prevailing international coal prices.”

Shukla stated that overall coal imports to mainland China went down as a result of less demand amid strict pandemic lockdown measures.

China is Russia’s main coal buyer, taking in over 50 million tons of the commodity worth USD7.4 billion in 2021 through rail and sea from Russia’s Far East, in line with statistics.

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