*
March imports at 41.17 mln T, highest since Jan 2020
*
Australian, Indonesian coal arrivals in March likely
surged
*
Weak hydropower output in southern China may boost coal
demand
(Add background, bullet points)
By Muyu Xu
SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - China's coal imports
surged in March to their highest in any month over the past
three years as utilities increased purchases on expectations for
a demand recovery and after curbs on bringing in Australian coal
were removed.
The world's top coal consumer brought in 41.17 million
tonnes last month, the highest level since January 2020, data
from the General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.
That compares to an average of 30.32 million tonnes per
month in the January-February period, and represents an increase
of 151% from March last year.
For the first quarter of 2023, China imported a total of
101.8 million tonnes of coal, nearly doubling from a low base
last year, the data showed.
Coal demand in China is expected to be robust in the
second quarter as the economy continues to emerge from the
country's now-abandoned zero-COVID regime.
Australian coal arrivals were expected to have grown in
March after Beijing removed restrictions on coal trade with
Canberra. Cheaper pricing has encouraged imports of Australian
thermal coal. Domestic thermal coal with energy content of 5,500
kilocalories costs 1,050 yuan ($152.76) a tonne at the northern
Chinese port of Qinhuangdao, while Australian coal of the same
quality costs around $120 a tonne on a free-on-board basis.
Utilities and traders also stepped up procurement from
Indonesia before the Muslim country entered the Ramadan festival
in mid-March.
Coal production and transport in Indonesia, China's top
thermal coal supplier, typically slow ahead of the Muslim
fasting month. Last year Ramadan fell in early April.
Weak hydropower output in southern China is also likely to
boost coal-fired power generation in the coming months.
At the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydropower
plant, water levels and reserves as of the first week of April
were significantly lower than in the same period over the past
five years, according to data compiled by Shanghai-based data
provider Wind.
A Yunnan provincial government-backed newspaper reported
last week that so far this year the southwestern Chinese
province has logged its lowest rainfall in 10 years.
But China's coal consumption is currently in the midst of
its low season as winter heating demand in northern China has
petered out and demand for summer air conditioning has not
kicked in.
That has put downward pressure on domestic coal prices and
narrowed price differentials with overseas supplies.
Daily coal consumption in eight coastal regions fell to
around 1.72 million tonnes last week from more than 2 million
tonnes in February, data tracked by the China Coal Transport and
Distribution Association showed.
($1 = 6.8734 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and
Kenneth Maxwell)
