The Trend of Coal Exports and Imports by China and Its Influence on Asian coal Markets.

China exported over 90 million tons of coal in 2001 to play an important role as supplier of coal to Asian coal markets, especially the East Asian region. However, China’s coal exports have decreased every year since 2004, whereas its imports have risen, reflecting a tightening of its domestic supply and demand due to a sharp increase in domestic consumption since 2003. This decrease in export and increase in import remarkably influenced the supply and demand of coal in the Asian coal markets and became one of the factors for the price rise in 2007 and after. This report traces China’s exports and imports of coal and the influence it has exerted on Asian coal markets and forecasts future trends in China’s exports and imports in order to asess the resulting impact on Asian markets.