INFOGRAPHIC: Global coking coal imports hit by Covid-19

All the world’s major coking coal importers reduced their purchases in 2020 amid steel production cuts and lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and India imported a total of 217.76 million tonnes of coking coal last year, down by 10.1% from 2019.

The largest decline in percentage terms was found in the EU. The bloc imported 30.20 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material, down by 34.5% from 2019.

China imported 72.28 million tonnes in 2020. In percentage terms this was down by just 3%, but amounted to a year-on-year drop of 2.21 million tonnes.

The world’s second-largest importer, Japan, purchased 51.9 million tonnes of coking coal last year, down by 8% from 2019.

Click on image to enlarge

Join industry experts for an exciting forward look into Asia’s evolving steel market at the Singapore Steel Forum on July 14. Register today at https://events.fastmarkets.com/singapore-steel-forum

What to read next
Fastmarkets launched two new price assessments for Indonesia’s domestic trade in nickel ore on Tuesday July 15. The two price assessments are for domestic trades of Indonesian laterite ores with 1.6% and 1.2% nickel content. Indonesia now accounts for 60% of the global nickel supplies and while there is an official government reference price, known […]
The publication of the affected prices was delayed for 50 minutes. The following indices were published late: MB-MNO-0001 Manganese ore high grade index, cif Tianjin, $ per dmtu MB-MNO-0002 Manganese ore semi carbonate index, 36.5% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth, $/dmtu MB-MNO-0003 Manganese ore semi carbonate index, 36.5% Mn, cif Tianjin, $/dmtu These prices are a part of the […]
The purpose of this review is to ensure that the index continues to accurately reflect prevailing market conditions. We welcome feedback from industry participants on potential amendments to the base specification. This consultation, which is open until August 9, 2025 seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in […]
Fastmarkets has launched MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonne on July 9 due to an expected increase in Indonesia-origin aluminium exports. MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonneQuality: P1020A or 99.7 % Minimum Al purity (Si 0.10% max, Fe 0.20% max) in line with LME specifications. Ingot, T-bar, sowQuantity: Min 500 tonnesLocation: FOB IndonesiaTiming: […]
Fastmarkets has corrected its daily AG-PLM-0012 refined bleached deodorised (RBD) palm olein, fob Indonesia price assessment, which was published incorrectly on July 7 due to an input error.
To increase the transparency of our methodology, Fastmarkets clarifies that the quotation period of the MHP nickel payable indicator is the month of delivery, or the month M. Any data points Fastmarkets received otherwise will be normalized to the M month based on the monthly spreads of the prevailing exchange-traded Class-1 nickel reference price, or […]