<article><p class="lead">Australian metallurgical coal exports fell by 10pc in October compared with September, as Chinese import restrictions were tightened and exports to India, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam eased after a strong September.</p><p>Combined hard, pulverised coal injection (PCI) and semi-soft coking coal shipments fell to 13.65mn t in October from <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2157401">14.61mn t in September</a> and from 14.57mn t in October 2019. This was the least shipped from Australia since a storm-affected 11.7mn t in February 2019 and compares with a high of 19.16mn t in June 2019, according to the latest trade data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).</p><p>Australian hard coking coal exports fell in October on both comparisons but were higher than July and August. January-October exports were down by 5pc on 2019, reversing an increase of 5pc for January-April this year. </p><p>Initial shipping data suggests that coking coal shipments fell further in November, with the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance coking coal port of Hay Point in Queensland having a particularly slow month. </p><p>China in October took 15pc less hard coking coal than in September and 45pc less than a year earlier. Its January-October intake is still up by 18pc on 2019 and only 1mn t behind all of 2019. India, Japan and Taiwan are all more than 10pc behind for January-October because of Covid-19 lockdowns and their slow economic recovery. The increased buying in September as blast furnaces came back on line outside of China slowed in October.</p><p>The average export price for Australian hard coking coal was $128.23/t in October, down from $122.29/t in September, according to the ABS. The October price is based on the Australian/US dollar exchange rate of $0.7498 used by the ABS for the month. </p><p>The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price averaged $122.46/t fob Australia in October, up from $121.92/t in September but down from $143.89/t in October 2019.</p><p>Australian semi-soft coking coal and PCI shipments fell to 4.06mn t in October from 4.66mn t in September and 4.14mn t in October 2019. </p><p>Japan was the largest customer of semi-soft coking coal and PCI in October, a role India held in September. China and Japan have both bought considerably less of this lower grade coal during January-October compared with a year earlier, which has been partially offset by stronger exports to South Korea and Vietnam.</p><p>The average export price for semi-soft coking coal and PCI in October was $92.48/t, down from $92.93/t in September, according to the ABS. The Argus semi-soft mid-volatile price averaged $73.93/t fob Australia in October, up from $71.20/t in September but down from $92.50/t in October 2019.</p><p class="bylines">By Jo Clarke</p><p><table class='tbl-excel'><tr><td class='tbl-header' colspan='5'>Australian metallurgical coal exports</td><td class='tbl-header tbl-right tbl-italic'>(mn t)</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-left'>Destination</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-center'>Oct</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-center'>% &#177; vs Sept*</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-center'>% &#177; vs Oct &#39;19</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>Jan-Oct</td><td class='tbl-columnheader tbl-bold tbl-right'>% &#177; vs Jan-Oct &#39;19</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-rowspace' colspan='6'></td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-subheader'>Hard coking coal</td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>China</td><td class='tbl-right'>1.64</td><td class='tbl-right'>-15.24</td><td class='tbl-right'>-45.24</td><td class='tbl-right'>33.10</td><td class='tbl-right'>17.90</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>India</td><td class='tbl-right'>2.93</td><td class='tbl-right'>-18.44</td><td class='tbl-right'>16.20</td><td class='tbl-right'>23.62</td><td class='tbl-right'>-12.74</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Japan</td><td class='tbl-right'>1.30</td><td class='tbl-right'>-26.25</td><td class='tbl-right'>38.82</td><td class='tbl-right'>11.54</td><td class='tbl-right'>-10.40</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>South Korea</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.94</td><td class='tbl-right'>42.76</td><td class='tbl-right'>102.26</td><td class='tbl-right'>8.04</td><td class='tbl-right'>5.98</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Taiwan</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.33</td><td class='tbl-right'>-46.26</td><td class='tbl-right'>-24.22</td><td class='tbl-right'>4.28</td><td class='tbl-right'>-16.12</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Vietnam</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.32</td><td class='tbl-right'>-6.19</td><td class='tbl-right'>-24.49</td><td class='tbl-right'>3.55</td><td class='tbl-right'>35.47</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left tbl-bold'>Total</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>9.58</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-6.84</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-8.19</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>98.90</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-4.78</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-subheader'>semi-soft and PCI coking coal</td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td><td class='tbl-subheader'></td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>China</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.08</td><td class='tbl-right'></td><td class='tbl-right'>-80.38</td><td class='tbl-right'>5.13</td><td class='tbl-right'>-31.05</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>India</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.84</td><td class='tbl-right'>-46.29</td><td class='tbl-right'>-24.13</td><td class='tbl-right'>10.47</td><td class='tbl-right'>-0.04</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Japan</td><td class='tbl-right'>1.52</td><td class='tbl-right'>6.03</td><td class='tbl-right'>11.02</td><td class='tbl-right'>13.52</td><td class='tbl-right'>-16.84</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>South Korea</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.99</td><td class='tbl-right'>27.96</td><td class='tbl-right'>61.99</td><td class='tbl-right'>11.03</td><td class='tbl-right'>10.74</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Taiwan</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.33</td><td class='tbl-right'>-26.66</td><td class='tbl-right'>50.93</td><td class='tbl-right'>3.81</td><td class='tbl-right'>5.92</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left'>Vietnam</td><td class='tbl-right'>0.09</td><td class='tbl-right'>-66.50</td><td class='tbl-right'>-68.23</td><td class='tbl-right'>2.02</td><td class='tbl-right'>17.63</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-left tbl-bold'>Total</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>4.06</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-15.58</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-1.73</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>48.63</td><td class='tbl-right tbl-bold'>-7.87</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-footer tbl-right tbl-italic' colspan='6'>Source: ABS, GTT</td></tr><tr><td class='tbl-notes tbl-left tbl-italic' colspan='6'>*adjusted on a daily basis to account for longer and shorter months</td></tr></table></p></article>