China's coking coal imports in November climbed to the second-highest level so far this year, largely driven by hiking shipments from Mongolia, which helped offset declines from other major suppliers.

The country's coking coal imports rose 1.3% month on month (MoM) to 10.73 million tonnes in November, exceeding 10 million tonnes for the fourth consecutive month, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). The volume was second only to 10.92 million tonnes recorded in September 2025.

The value of coking coal imports amounted to $1.07 billion during the month, up 2.2% MoM. The average import price was $99.4/t, ticking up $0.9/t MoM, data showed.

The MoM growth in China's coking coal imports was attributed almost entirely to higher Mongolian volumes, along with a marginal rise in deliveries from Colombia, whereas shipments from all other sources declined compared with October.

Benefiting from strong year-end clearance efforts at Sino-Mongolian border ports, more operational days than the previous month, and attractive import margins that spurred traders' import activity, China imported 6.24 million tonnes of coking coal from Mongolia in November, rising 16.4% MoM and 19.6% YoY.

This represented the highest monthly volume from Mongolia so far this year, the third time imports from the country exceeded 6 million tonnes, and the second-highest monthly import on record. The November inflows from Mongolia were only behind the 6.55 million tonnes seen in December 2023.

Notably, October's imports were constrained by week-long closures of major border ports during China's National Day holidays, political uncertainties in Mongolia, and loading restrictions at some mines.

Mongolian cargoes contributed 58% of China's total coking coal imports in November, expanding by 7 percentage points MoM. With both volume and prices rising, the import value of Mongolian coking coal jumped 29.3% MoM to $470 million last month. The average import price reached $75.2/t, gaining $7.5/t MoM and reaching the highest since May 2025.

The robust November performance also pushed cumulative Mongolian imports into positive YoY growth. In the first 11 months this year, Mongolia supplied 53.36 million tonnes of coking coal to China, up 1.5% YoY. Customs clearance volumes have extended rise entering December, so imports from Mongolia are expected to hover high in the final month of the year.

In contrast, shipments from Russia, Australia, Canada, and Indonesia all decreased MoM in November, accounting for 26%, 8%, 5%, and 3% of the total, respectively. Canada and Australian cargoes posted notable MoM declines of 457,000 tonnes and 195,000 tonnes, respectively.

China took 2.74 million tonnes of coking coal from Russia, down 1.2% MoM. The import value totaled $290 million, and this put the average import price at $105.6/t, up $6.9/t MoM.

China imported 851,000 million tonnes of coking coal from Australia in November, falling 18.7% MoM. The total amounts were $160 million, translating to an average import price of $186.8/t, gaining $22.1/t MoM.

Imports from Canada were 524,000 tonnes, plummeting 46.6% MoM. Import amounts were $92.91 million, with the average import price at $177.4/t, up $4.0/t MoM.

In November, Indonesia shipped 372,000 tonnes of coking coal to China, falling 12.8% MoM. The import value came in at $56.49 million, with the average price rising $0.2/t MoM to $152.1/t.

Over January-November, China's coking coal imports totaled 105 million tonnes, down 6.0% YoY, while value retreated 38.3% to $10.53 billion. Mongolia supplied 51% of the total imports during the given period.