當年今日
關於我們

Is China still importing Australian coal?|Poon Siu-to

蘋果日報 2021/01/19 10:25


In November 2020, China started implementing a new policy that effectively banned Australian coal. As a result, mainland China is facing a serious coal shortage. Meanwhile, the cold weather and the growing number of economic activities have significantly pushed up demand for electricity in various parts of the country. Power plants in coastal areas in China mainly use Australia’s high-quality coal. This is why the ban on Australian coal is regarded as the last straw, and is one reason for the power outages across a large part of the country.
On record, the amount of Australian coal that China imported in late 2020 fell sharply by 90 percent. But things are quite different in reality. In December, Whitehaven Coal, a publicly listed coal producer in Australia, published a business report, which points out that since China stopped importing Australian coal, the company found new clients in India, Pakistan and the Middle East, and the coal it has exported to these markets has eventually made its way to China. The company’s chief executive Paul Flynn noted that the Chinese ban has had little impact on their sales.
In other words, coal produced in the mainland and sourced from Russia and Indonesia, China’s two major coal suppliers, is still not enough to meet domestic demand in China, and so it has to source Australian coal through a third country. Such an indirect way is time-consuming and involves complicated procedures. Artificially stretching the supply chain is totally against economic principles and is to the detriment of Chinese consumers’ interests.
To give Australia a lesson, China has also launched measures tantamount to banning Australian lobsters and beef. The result? Chinese consumers can hardly source such products now whereas people in Australia and other parts of the world get to enjoy delicious and inexpensive Australian lobsters and beef. As a matter of fact, there is strong demand for Australia’s agricultural products and other foods in China. A Global Times report last week speaks volumes of that. The report quoted a worker surnamed Yu who works in the fruit trade in Guangzhou as saying that “we are not importing Australian cherries for the time being because they are not in season.” A fruit merchant surnamed Pan in Shanghai also said “the taste and quality of Australian cherries are not as good as before. Those from Chile have the largest market share in China. They are of good quality and the prices are low.” The report also noted that Chinese buyers prefer Chilean cherries as the quality of Australian cherries had deteriorated. It was obviously a call for Chinese consumers to switch to Chilean cherries.
But anyone who knows a bit about fruits know the report was not reflecting the truth: cherries from Tasmania in January and February are the best in that they are juicy and have the right sweetness. Chilean cherries are no match for them, a fact that is reflected in the price tags. That Global Times had to distort market information to mislead Chinese consumers only indicates that many people in China like Australian cherries. Yet people can always find a way to go around official policies. Despite the ban on Australian products, they can still be sourced via a third country. It is just that the cost is higher and the transportation time longer. The cost and time factors have relatively little impact on coal trade in China. After all, demand for it is huge in China and there are no substitutes. On the other hand, imported agricultural products may rot on their way to China and so merchants have to look for substitutes from other countries. On balance, Chinese consumers are still the biggest losers.
(Poon Siu-to, veteran journalist)
Click here for Chinese version
We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section: [email protected]
Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.
The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.
---------------------------------
Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE
To download the latest version,
Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play