Australia is investigating media reports that China has stopped taking its coal shipments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, adding that such import quotas to support China’s market were “not uncommon”.
Trade industry reports late last week suggested that some Chinese ports had been told not to accept Australian thermal and metallurgical coal and that Australian shipments were being sold along to other markets at the last minute.
China’s imports of coal had been expected to slow in the second half after heavy imports earlier this year met with weaker than expected demand due to coronavirus-related disruptions.
