China imports 330kt coal from S. Africa in May

Friday, 10 June 2011 18:00

coal-shipment-China took 330,000 tonnes coal from South Africa in May, down from 500,000 tonnes in Apr, exporter sources said recently.Currently, South African and Colombian coal are at the bottom

of Chinese buyers' shopping lists for imports because the delivered costs are significantly higher than for Pacific region coal, exporters said.
China may start buying South African coal again if imports of higher-grade material for blending rise so much that Australia cannot meet the need but this may not happen for months, if at all, traders said. source Reuters