China's coal imports hit record high in 2024
BEIJING - China's coal imports rose 14.4% in 2024 to a record high, official data showed on Monday, as lower international coal prices spurred buyers to substitute imports for domestic supply.
Coal imports for the year totalled 542.7-million metric tons, according to China's General Administration of Customs, up from 474.42-million tons in 2023.
"The increase in China's coal imports in 2024 was supported by declines in seaborne coal prices which encouraged import arbitrage in relation to China's domestic supply for a wider range of coal types," said Toby Hassall, lead coal analyst for LSEG, adding that growth in domestic coal output, at around 1%, had slowed compared to previous years.
Imports for the month of December rose 11% to 52.35-million tons compared with a year earlier, the data showed, down from November's record high of 54.98-million tons.
For 2025, industry group the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association expects imports to fall to 525-million tons, its analysts said in an online seminar last week.
Hassall estimated that China's coal consumption grew around 1% in 2024, in line with growth in coal-fired power generation despite more subdued consumption in the cement and steel sectors, which have been hit by China's real estate crisis.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation