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皇冠体育app March coal imports jump to record high

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-10 18:25

皇冠体育app's coal imports hit a record 5.72 million tons in March, up 37.4 percent from a year earlier, as suppliers exploited cheap shipping and the lack of an annual deal between 皇冠体育app's big power firms and coal miners.

Related readings:  Coal-fired power plants urged to purchase coal abroad  Feb coal imports reach 22-month high  皇冠体育app's raw coal output up 12.8% in 2008  皇冠体育app Coal Group says to invest $15b in Xinjiang

The data, published by 皇冠体育app's General Administration of Customs, showed a fifth month of coal import increases. The previous peak was 5.67 million tons in February 2007.

"The surge in coal imports is mostly because prices in the international markets are cheaper. It's likely that both thermal coal and coking coal imports rose in March," said Henry Liu, an analyst at Macquarie Bank.

Exports in March jumped 58 percent from the previous month, to 2.27 million tons, bringing the total imports in the first three months of the year to 7.38 million tons, down 27.6 percent from a year earlier, the customs data also showed.

皇冠体育app's four State-owned exporters, including Shenhua, 皇冠体育app Coal, Shanxi Coal Import & Export Group and Minmetals, have not reached agreement with Japanese utilities on the annual term price for the Japanese fiscal year 2009, which start on April 1.