According to Whitehaven Coal, Australian coal is finding its way into China despite the continuing ban by the Chinese government.
Comments by CEO Paul Flynn on the China ban came hours before the December trade data revealed China was forced to drop the cap on imports of coal for a wide range of shippers – but not for Australia.
The trade data revealed that China’s coal imports totalled 39.08 million tonnes last month and China’s General Administration of Customs figures showed on Thursday, up 232.3% from 11.76 million tonnes in November and only 2.77 million tonnes in December a year ago.
They pushed the total for 2020 to an all time high of 304 million tonnes, four million tonnes above the country’s unofficial import limit.
Mr Flynn told an investor briefing that the Chinese ban had had little impact on Whitehaven’s sales base.
“We’re still selling the same tonnes to the same customers as we were previously,” he told the briefing.
“We are seeing lots of players who would otherwise have sold coal into China selling it into areas where they hadn’t been doing so in the past and China having to buy coal from non-traditional sources to meet their needs whilst this coal ban plays out.
“I haven’t heard any news on changes in quota. Quite the contrary, there seems to be more rhetoric about a firmer position from the Chinese about not taking Aussie coal.
“But as I say that doesn’t really affect us too much in the end,” Mr Flynn said.
Whitehaven said seaborne markets for thermal coal was still improving from the low point hit in August due to supply curtailments (COVID-related in Indonesia and the Chinese ban on imports from Australia) coupled with rising energy demand in Asia, especially with the harsh winter in China, Japan and Korea.
Whitehaven lifted the bottom end of its 2020-21 sales guidance after disruptions at the Port of Newcastle late last year pushed 550,000 of sales from December into January.
The company on Thursday said it now expected total managed coal sales of between 19 million tonnes and 20 million tonnes for the financial year, up from a previous floor of 18.5 million tonnes.
“Across our open-cut operations we are seeing much more consistent and better performance across production and overburden management and our guidance range has tightened accordingly,” Mr Flynn said.
December quarter saw Whitehaven achieve total managed coal sales 4.5 million tonnes, up 2% on a year ago, and managed own coal sales of 3.9 million, up 15%, while total equity coal sales of 3.7 million tonnes was in line with the prior corresponding period.
“During the latter part of the December quarter there was a strong rebound in pricing and we are increasingly optimistic that underlying market dynamics are supportive of continued improvement in this area,” Mr Flynn said.
Whitehaven shares rose 3.1% to end at $1.805 after being up more than 6% at one stage.
