China Sept coal imports rise 12.2% m/m - customs

BEIJING -China's coal imports rose 12.2 per cent in September from a month earlier as lower Indonesian coal prices and tighter domestic supply spurred buying.

Coal imports totalled 33.05 million tonnes last month, up from 29.46 million tonnes in August and last September's 32.88 million tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.

China's coal output was capped by intensified safety checks ahead of the week-long National Day holiday in early October.

The government also ordered utilities to build up inventory sufficient for at least 20 days of use to ensure power supply.

That helped to drive up domestic prices and made imported cargoes more attractive.

Spot prices for thermal coal with energy content of 5,500 kilocalories (kcal) climbed by 40 per cent in the month from late August, spurring utilities and industrial buyers to seek cheaper alternatives.

However, as prices of overseas cargoes picked up, together with a stronger dollar, appetite for coal imports would ease, analysts and traders said.

Indonesian thermal coal at 4,200 kcal was priced at $91.5 per tonne on the freight-on-board basis in late September, compared to only $75.7 in late August.

Imports for the period from January to September reached 201 million tonnes, down 12.7 per cent year-on-year.