Coal exports from Australia's Newcastle drop 16.5% MoM in July

Exports of all types of coal from the Port of Newcastle in Southeast Australia's New South Wales reached 12.63 million tonnes in July, down 16.5% on month and 7% on year, according to the latest data from the port authority.

Newcastle port is an important conduit for Australian coal to export markets, with most being thermal coal, Mysteel Global notes.

The overall drop mainly reflected declines in shipments from the port to major Northeast Asian destinations last month. According to Mysteel's maritime data, coal deliveries in July via Newcastle to China reached 2.38 million tonnes, down 41% on month and 25% on year.

Chinese importers may have slowed their purchases from Newcastle port last month, eyeing the sluggish replenishment interest among local utilities companies.

Although Chinese power companies had increased their coal consumption to meet stronger electricity demand in summer, many maintained only sporadic replenishments from the spot market, as steady domestic supplies through long-term contracts helped to keep their coal stocks at comfortable levels.

According to Mysteel's survey of 493 coal-fired power plants across the country, by July 30 their combined coal inventory stood at 97.89 million tonnes, up from 97.19 million tonnes in late June and enough to support their use for 22 days.

Due to the lukewarm buying interest, thermal coal inventories stored at the 55 Chinese ports under Mysteel survey also hovered at high levels throughout July, indicating heavy stock pressure on domestic thermal coal traders. On July 24, the total stock volume had topped 79 million tonnes, marking the highest level since Mysteel started to track the data in 2018.

Beyond China, Australian coal exports via Newcastle to Japan also dropped 13% on month and 22% on year to 5.13 million tonnes in July. Deliveries to South Korea last month reached only 265,320 tonnes, tumbling by 80% on month and 37% on year, Mysteel's maritime data showed.

Over January-July, the combined exports of coal for all uses through Newcastle totalled 87.36 million tonnes, up 7.6% from the same period of last year, Mysteel Global calculated.

Written by Adrian Zhou, zhouwenhaoa@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com