China’s Major Coal Import Hubs Grow As The Economy Recovers
As a result of China’s continuous lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which restricted industrial and other coal-burning industries, the country’s influence on global coal markets declined in 2022.
According to data from Kpler, imports are on track to have their biggest yearly decline since at least 2017, while the nation’s total use of thermal coal was nearly unchanged over the first half of the year – a much slower growth rate than in 2021.
The increase in coal demand observed in Europe and elsewhere this year was partially countered by lower combined consumption and imports by the world’s top producer, consumer, and importer of coal; this may have slowed the increase in total coal emissions in 2022.
However, recent initiatives to reduce travel restrictions and boost the economy in China are already having an impact on global coal flows, prices, markets and emissions in 2023 by increasing the activity of importers of coal at strategic consumption hubs.
The regions that experienced the most substantial consumption decreases in 2022 are those with the highest potential for development in coal consumption in 2023.
According to statistics from Power Gateway, China’s massive industrial region along the South coast, which is home to numerous large electronics firms, experienced the highest decline in coal usage of any province so far in 2022.
The province reduced its thermal coal consumption between January and October from the corresponding period in 2021 by 51 million metric tones.
The usage of coal was reduced by 45 million tonnes in the neighboring Guangxi, a significant center for the textile industry as well as a manufacturer of steel, diesel engines, and fertilizers, and by 33 million tonnes in the neighboring Guizhou.
This year, there were a number of significant reductions in the use of thermal coal throughout the nation’s northeastern industrial corridor, which is home to numerous automobile, shipbuilding, and chemical plants. These reductions included ones of 36 million tonnes in Liaoning province and 24 million tonnes in Heilongjiang.
