Coal imports continue to decline

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According to the China Phosphorus Coal Industry Network, 19.46 million tons of coal were imported in July, a decrease of 8.25% on a year-on-year basis and 9.91% on a month-on-month basis. The main reasons for the decline in imported coal are **stricter controls on the import of low-quality coal and the reduced cost-effectiveness of imported coking coal. Starting at the end of September, ports along the Bohai Sea region banned the use of road transport for coal shipments, which will have a significant impact on coal imports, particularly those of coking coal. Based on a comprehensive analysis, it is preliminarily estimated that the domestic coal market remained generally in a state of balance in September, although structural imbalances persisted. Moreover, due to the different operating rhythms of thermal coal and coking coal, their market performance varied. Specifically, the downstream steel market has entered its traditional peak season, providing strong support for the coking coal market in terms of both demand and prices. At the same time, supply constraints in coking coal driven by various events continue, leading to further increases in coking coal prices ； A seasonal decline in demand in the thermal coal market is inevitable, but a reduction in supply will partially offset this lack of demand; as a result, the thermal coal market is likely to experience volatile fluctuations.