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China nears lifting over two-year-old unofficial ban on Australian coal imports

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While the exact timeline of the ban's removal is unclear, Chinese traders and end-users said three China's state-owned power plants -- China Datang Corp., China Huaneng Group Co., China Energy Investment Corp. -- and steel producer China Baowu Steel Group Corp. have received intimations from the government to import Australian coal.
"Some of the state-owned companies out of the four listed have been given verbal confirmation," a Chinese trader with knowledge of the matter said. "It remains to be seen if the customs provide the green light clearance for them to officially start procuring Australian coals."
The four companies did not immediately respond to S&P Global's requests for comment and attempts to reach the Chinese customs office were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
China's top economic planner National Development and Regulatory Commission, or NDRC, and the Ministry of Electric Power, or MEP, held discussions Jan. 3 about reopening coal trade with Australia, according to some Chinese end-users.
The ban is expected to be relaxed on a miner-to-end-user basis and will likely not extend for general trading purposes, a Chinese end-user said. S&P Global could not reach the NDRC and MEP for comment.……
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https://www.spglobal.com/commodityi...old-unofficial-ban-on-australian-coal-imports