China’s November coal imports down 20% year-on-year

BEIJING: Coal imports by China, the world’s largest buyer, fell 20% in November from the previous year’s record high, figures from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.

November imports of 44.05 million metric tons, however, were up 6% from 41.74 million tons in October.

The previous November’s imports had reached a record single-month high of 54.98 million tons.

Imported coal still has a price advantage over domestic coal, but the arbitrage has narrowed as domestic prices weakened, the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association (CCTD) said on its website in late November.

Supply constraints were likely to keep imports in the final two months of the year below year-earlier levels, CCTD said.

Heavy rain in top supplier Indonesia has curbed exports and some mines have stopped production after meeting their quotas for the year, while Australian supply has been tight and Russian exports have been impacted by cold weather.

For the first 11 months of 2025, China’s coal imports fell 12% from a year earlier to 432 million tons, the data showed.