China lifts export quota on coke

China has lifted its export quota on coke following the removal of the export tax on the material in mid-December.

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Effective 2013, coke exports are no longer restricted by quota, but administrated by export licences, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of the Customs said in a joint announcement.

“It is very easy to apply for the export licence, as one just has to register at the Customs,” a trading company in Dalian told Steel First.

“Now that the restrictions on exports are completely removed, we are looking at possible opportunities to export coke,” he added.

Since China started to levy a 40% export tax on coke in late 2008, the export quota became meaningless. China’s coke exports were much lower than the quota each year after that.

The export quota for 2012 was 8.48 million tonnes but exports for the first 11 months amounted to only 960,000 tonnes, which yielded an annualised total of 1.05 million tonnes.

In December 2012, China quietly removed coke from its table of export taxes for 2013, a move believed to be in response to World Trade Organisation rulings against Beijing over alleged restrictions on the export of raw material.