Japan's coal imports trickle down in November from the previous month, with coal supplies from Australia accounting for 65% of the total, according to data from Japan's Ministry of Finance.

 

Japan imported 13.64 million tonnes of coal in November, down 1.13 million tonnes or 7.63% from a year earlier and 209,000 tonnes or 1.51% compared to October, data showed.

 

 

The value of coal imports declined 47.98% from the previous year and 2.45% from a month ago to 413.43 billion yen ($2.895 billion) in November. That put the average price of imported coal in the month at 30,301.66 yen/t ($212.19/t), down 43.68% year on year (YoY) and 0.96% month on month (MoM).

 

 

Thermal coal made up 61% of Japan's total coal imports over the month at 8.31 million tonnes, down 2.21% from the preceding year and 3.51% from October. Thermal coal imports were worth 222.68 billion yen. The average import price was calculated at 26,784.53 yen/t, declining 54.74% on the year and 5.71% on the month.

 

There were still large amount of thermal coal coming from Australia in November, at 6.03 million tonnes, down 11.80% YoY and 1.84% MoM, taking up 73% of the total; followed by Indonesia's 1.23 million tonnes, accounting for 15% of the total, jumping 57.87% YoY and 80.0% MoM.

 

Coking coal imports were 4.89 million tonnes, down 17.22% from the year-ago level but up 0.89% from October, accounting for 36% of total coal imports. The imports were valued at 174.72 billion yen, putting the average import price at 35,755.22 yen/t, down 22.85% YoY but up 6.66% MoM.

 

Australia and Indonesia were the major sources of coking coal, with the former providing 2.53 million tonnes (52% of the total), falling 8.81% YoY and 0.78% MoM, and the latter 911,800 tonnes (19%), down 30.61% YoY and 6.78% MoM.

 

Anthracite imports were 443,100 tonnes in November, rising 21.33% from a year ago and 12.80% from October, taking up 3% of the total. Lignite imports were only 643 tonnes, up 1.42% YoY and 65.72% MoM.

 

By origin, Japan's top three sources of coal imports in November were Australia, Indonesia and Canada, accounting for 65%, 16% and 7% of the total respectively. Japan's coal receipts from Indonesia over November showed an increase compared to the previous month, while that from the other two countries declined month on month.

 

 

Australia was still the largest source of coal imports into Japan in November. Japan imported 8.92 million tonnes of coal from Australia, falling 9.66% on the year and 0.22% on the month. The imports were worth 273.10 billion yen, with the average import price at 30,617.67 yen/t, down 42.99% YoY and 0.56% MoM.

 

Indonesia was the second at 2.14 million tonnes, up 2.25% YoY and 28.83% MoM, which were valued at 53.05 billion yen. The import price averaged 24,822.38 yen/t, diving 57.09% YoY and 8.97% MoM.

 

Canada remained the third-largest seller with shipment at 986,000 tonnes, sinking 4.67% from the previous year and 15.57% from October. The import value was 32.90 billion yen, putting the average import price at 33,361.49 yen/t, down 37.23% YoY yet up 0.47% MoM.

 

Japan imported 153 million tonnes of coal during the January to November period, down 8.45% year on year. Australia accounted for 64% of the total with shipment of 97.86 million tonnes.

 

Coke imports in Japan reached 568,000 tonnes in November, rising 26.47% from a year earlier but down 53.49% from October. The imports were worth 3.01 billion yen, down 20.50% YoY and 45.46% MoM, translating into an average import price of 53,050.18 yen/t, down 37.14% YoY yet up 17.24% MoM.

 

Japan imported 53,056 tonnes of coke from China's mainland in the month, up 23.57% YoY but down 55.12% MoM. The volume represented 93% of the total.