According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, China imported around 30.91 million tons of coal in December last year, falling by 4.3% compared to the previous month and by 0.14% from the same month a year ago.

The decrease in coal imports was mainly due to slowed industrial activity in China caused by soaring COVID-19 cases after the government eased epidemic controls.

With the prospect of mills’ reopening and economic recovery, China’s coal imports were expected to rebound after the Lunar New Year holiday.

In the whole year of 2022, China’s coal imports amounted to 293.2 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.2%.