China sharply increases coal imports

In October, China, the world's second-largest economy, bought 26.9 million tons of coal from foreign suppliers, Report informs, citing foreign media.

This figure is 96.2% more than in the same months of 2020.

However, last month's coal imports are the lowest in the past five months. Compared to September, imports in October decreased by 18.2%. In total, China imported 257.34 million tons of coal in January-October, 1.9% more than the previous year's indicator.

The Chinese government is increasing imports trying to tackle the coal shortage in the country, which has been observed since late September amid rising global energy prices. In September, many Chinese provinces imposed restrictions on electricity consumption. Hundreds of energy-intensive businesses have shut down. To stabilize the situation, the government decided to open mines and increase coal production. In order to prevent price hikes, inspections were carried out at national enterprises producing and trading coal. Beijing has also lifted the unofficial ban on imports from Australia, which had lasted nearly a year.