Aussie coal on ban list as Beijing turns screw

LOCAL exporters are demanding answers amid reports that Beijing has instructed Chinese companies to stop buying Australian coal.

It’s the latest flare-up in trade tensions between the two nations, coming two months after China launched an investigation into Australian wine exports.

Now coal appears to be on Beijing’s hit list, with industry media reporting that officials issued verbal warnings to companies to stop buying thermal coal from Australia.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham yesterday said the government had contacted China through diplomatic channels overnight.

“I have had discussions with the Australian industry and we are making approaches to Chinese authorities in relation to that speculation,” Senator Birmingham told Sky

News. “We don’t have proof that this is occurring, but as I said, we are taking the accusations at a value where we are at least engaging with the Chinese system.”

Senator Birmingham said there had been a pattern of disruptions to the flow of Australian coal into China in recent years.

“But the market has then recovered as a result of a range of different factors including the application of some domestic quotas it seems in the Chinese system,” he said.

“From Australia’s perspective, the door remains open and the invitation there for us to have the type of discussion that we should as partners in relation to our economic cooperation in this region.

“We are always ready to have that mature dialogue and engagement even on difficult issues on which we may not agree.”

National

Party senator

Matt Canavan said Australia exported about 20 per cent of its coal to China.

“It’s a sizeable market but it’s not our biggest market,” he said, adding the largest market for thermal coal was Japan.

“We only actually produce about 5 per cent of the world’s coal, so if China decides to buy its coal from different countries, well, those other countries will be exporting less coal and we’ll fill a market gap in those places.”