Miners call for calm over delays offloading coal at Chinese ports
Coalminers have urged calm in dealing with a slowdown in coal imports at five Chinese ports.
Coalminers have urged calm in dealing with a slowdown in coal imports at five Chinese ports, as the Morrison government declared Australian coal was still reaching destinations in China.
After discussions with China’s ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye on Saturday, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he believed there had been a “temporary blowout in processing times” affecting Australian coal.
His comments followed reports last week of a ban on Australian coal being offloaded at five Chinese ports, which Chinese officials later claimed was incorrect, blaming environmental controls for the halt.
Coal Council of Australia chief executive Greg Evans cautioned yesterday against leaping to conclusions over the cause of the impasse, which some analysts have linked to Australia’s banning of Chinese company Huawei from participating in Australia’s 5G network.
‘‘There needs to be some cool heads in reaction to the developments in the China coal trade,’’ Mr Evans said.
“Over a lengthy period, our coal exports to China have faced routine ups and downs which our industry has worked through …
“We have to be cautious in interpreting any more than that in these latest circumstances.
‘‘China is a key market and, in its own right, it is the world’s largest coal producer by a significant margin, so balancing domestic supply considerations with import requirements will always present uncertainties.”
Mr Evans said the difficulties reinforced the need for Australia to develop other coal markets.
Senator Birmingham said Australian coal was still getting into Chinese power stations, but it was taking longer to receive Customs approval.
“In some cases we’re still to see some of that processed. This is a situation that is analogous to a similar one that occurred late last year, where we did see a temporary blowout in processing times,” Senator Birmingham told Sky News. “We saw much of that coal moved through.
‘‘All of this played out in the final quarter of last year and yet, at the end of that quarter, when we reconciled all of the figures, exports to China were at record levels both by volume and by value.”
The minister said Australia had “good relations” with China and he continued to work with officials. “Of course China has their system of government and we work as best we can with that system — we don’t always agree on everything.”