Singapore/Jakarta | China’s determination to reduce its consumption of Australian exports has helped increase demand for Indonesian coal, according to the country’s peak industry body.
The Indonesian Coal Mining Association said this week that a mixture of domestic supply disruption in China and politically driven efforts to diversify source markets for coal – mainly coking for steel making – had benefited south-east Asia’s biggest economy.
“Imports by China have strengthened because their domestic [coal prices] are getting more expensive, partly because of bad weather that has disrupted domestic supply and partly due to the factors that are hampering exports from Australia,” said executive director Hendra Sinadia.
“The current relationship between Australia and China is pushing prices up, but we don’t know how long it will last.“
Earlier this month, Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of coal by weight, set its coal benchmark price at $US100.33 per tonne, the highest since October 2018.
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