Aug 26, 2009 03:21 PM

China July Coal Imports Down 24%

By staff reporter Yang Yue and intern reporter Zhou Yan

(.com.cn) The decline in China's July coal imports was mainly caused by a narrowing gap between import and domestic prices and higher ocean freight rates, an analyst at CITIC Securities told on Aug. 25.

In July imports fell 13.6 percent month-on-month to 13.89 million tons, according to customs data.

CITIC Securities' coal analyst Wang Ye said prices at Qinhuangdao port, a barometer for domestic prices, stood at about US$83 per ton in July, while prices at Australia's Newcastle port, a major overseas port, stood at US$73 per ton. reported on Aug. 21 that in June Qinhuangdao prices stood at about US$88 per ton, while Newcastle prices were about US$68 per ton.