China's coke exports tumbled in August compared with both the preceding month and the year-ago month, showed the latest customs data.
China exported only 140,000 tonnes of coke last month, diving 68.18% year on year and 64.1% month on month, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
The sharp decline was in part related to robust domestic demand from downstream steel mills that kept running at high capacity in August, and also tightening supply as a result of continuous elimination of backward and excess coke-making capacity.
China shifted into a net coke importer for the first time in history in July, with intakes outstripping outbound shipments by more than 18,000 tonnes, amid firm domestic demand and regional supply gap especially in the eastern areas during the process of capacity reduction.
Weak demand of steel and resulting supply excess of coke at neighboring Asian countries due to COVID-19 impact also contributed to the dramatic decline of China's coke exports last month. Lower coke prices from neighboring countries made Chinese coke less competitive.
The August exports were worth $30.32 million, tumbling 74.81% year on year and down 63.86% month on month. The average unit export price was calculated at $216.56/t, $1.42/t higher compared with the preceding month, although it fell $57.02/t from the same month last year, data showed.
China exported a total of 2.29 million tonnes of coke in the first eight months of 2020, tumbling by 52.1% from a year ago. The cumulative export value hit $505.18 million, down 63.3% from the same period last year, according to the GAC.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Harry Huo)
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