Australian Dollar is lifted mildly after Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang denied the report that Australian coal imports are banned by Dalian port. He said in a regular press briefing that china’s Australian coal imports continue as normal. Nevertheless, customs administration has stepped up environment and safety checks on foreign cargoes.
Australia’s Minister for Trade, Simon Birmingham also said that “the application of those quotas combined with different testing and the quality assurance and environment is testing centres, may be slowing down the processing of costing data of coal in certain parts of China.” He added that “we have no basis to believe that there is a ban on Australian coal exports into China, or into any part of China.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said “This is not the first time that on occasion local ports make decisions about these matters. “There is no evidence before me or us that would suggest it has the connotations that it has anything to do with anything more broadly than that. This happens from time to time.”
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, China is the largest buyer of Australian coal. Up to 89m tonnes were shipped last year, worth AUD 15B.
