China Turns to Australia and Russia for Better Coal

(Bloomberg) — China’s booming coal imports include more high-grade cargoes from Australia and Russia as coal burners try to offset the declining quality of coal mined at home with fuel from abroad.

Australia’s exports of thermal coal for power plants and coking coal for steelmaking rose to 6.69 million tons last month, the highest since July 2020, according to Chinese customs data. The endorsement represents a sharp turnaround in trade relations: Australian shipments were banned by Beijing from late 2020 to the start of this year after political ties soured.