China sent a rare shipment of at least three cargoes of coking coal to processors in Indonesia's Sulawesi in May, sources familiar with the matter said, encroaching on a market typically dominated by supplies from Australia and Indonesia.The world's biggest importer of coking coal, China is not a major exporter of the steelmaking fuel, and has exported it to Indonesia only three times since the start of 2024, monthly Chinese customs data shows.State-run Shanxi Coking coal Group sold coking coal to China Risun Group, which was later exported to Indonesia last month, three sources said. Risun runs one of the largest coke-processing plants in Indonesia's Sulawesi region.The state-run group sold another cargo to Hong Kong Jinteng Development Ltd for export to Indonesia, the source said, while the second source added that it also sold a third cargo to a Dexin Steel plant in Indonesia.The sources sought anonymity as they were not authorised to speak on the issue.Shanxi Coking coal, China Risun and Dexin Steel did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Reuters was unable to reach Hong Kong Jinteng Development Ltd. Independent consultant Lawrence Yan said the moves were designed to test the economic feasibility of Chinese supply and show traditional sellers, such as Australia, that Indonesian plants had alternatives.Higher costs and strong competition from Russia and Mongolia made it unlikely the trade would become mainstream, however, he added.In the longer term, as China's slowing steel industry could free up supply of coking coal, turning it into a regular export product, an executive at Chinese trading house Winsway said last week.China exported 78,030 metric tonnes of coking coal to Indonesia in April, the first shipment since last July. Data for May is not available yet.
Source https://djakarta-miningclub.com