Coal December importsdecreased 55% yoy due to import restriction: Coal imports decreased to 10mnt in December,down 55% YoY, and lower than the historical range of 19-29mn tons sincemid-2016, due to China’s seaborne coal import restriction introduced in mid Nov2018. Despite the collapse in coal imports in December, coal prices fell by~10% and IPP inventory remains high. This is a strong indication that domesticcoal has been running in an oversupply environment in the past month. Nearterm, cancellation of the import restriction policy since 1stJanuary and seasonal demand slowdown into the Chinese New Year may furtherpressure coal prices, although increased safety inspections after the tragicmining accident in Shaanxi may be a wild card.
