Russian coal shipments to China fall 13% in August
BEIJING, Sept 20 (Reuters) -China's coalimports from Russia fell 13% in August, customs data showed on Friday, as sanctions continued to weigh.
Russia's coal shipments to China last month were 8.7 million metric tons, according to the General Administration of Customs, the lowest level since April.
Russian companies' hurdles to conducting transactions with China intensified in August after Chinese banks tightened compliance following Western threats of secondary sanctions, Russian sources have said.
Russia's energy minister said earlier this month that Russia's coal shipments to China are at a plateau and no "sharp growth" is expected.
For the year to date, Russian shipments were down 10% year-on-year at 63.1 million tons.
Shipments to China from top supplier Indonesia rose 8% to 20.26million tons, the data showed.
Indonesia set its benchmark coal prices lower in August, making Indonesian coal more attractive.
Australian coal exports to China fell 7% to 6.19 million tons. Shipments were still up 69% on the year, however, as imports recovered from an informal import ban that had ended last year.
Mongolian imports were up 4% at 7.47million tons and were 27% higher in the first eight months of the year.
Last month, China's coal imports from all sources ticked up 3% to 45.84 million tons.
Thermal power generation returned to year-on-year growth in August after three consecutive months of declines, according to the statistics bureau.
Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
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