another article......

another article...

http://www.smh.com.au/business/mini...-on-china-dirty-coal-ban-20140916-10hnzb.html

Australian export risk on China dirty coal ban

A significant portion of Australia's coal exports to China could be at risk from a Chinese government decision to block imports of lower quality "dirty" coal from 2015, potentially hitting exports worth billions of dollars.

The government has decided to limit the use of imported coal with more than 40 per cent ash and 3 per cent sulphur in the three main coal-using regions from January 1, 2015 in a bid to improve air quality, especially in the major cities such as Beijing.

Additionally, Australian exporters could opt to blend poorer quality Australian coals with better quality coal to get around the ban, or to wash the coal to reduce high ash levels in particular.

"Our product is typically around 5500 kilo calories and 24-25 per cent ash. So we've got big problems," Bruce Jacques of IHS McCloskey Coal said.

"The real impact could be on Indonesian exporters into China since they have coal with higher sulphur content," the producer said.