Foreign media: Chinese traders receive official instructions to return more than ten ships of North Korean coal
[Compilation/observer network Zhuang Yi] according to a report by Reuters on April 11, a trade source from China Dandong Cheng Tai Trading Co., Ltd., one of the largest buyers of North Korea’s coal, said that it had received official instructions from the Chinese Customs Department, they are required to return the coal ships shipped from North Korea.
According to Eikon shipping data from Thomson Reuters, more than a dozen North Korean cargo ships are returning to Nanpu, the western industrial port of North Korea, most of which are full of goods transported to China. Three sources confirmed that China Customs issued the order to trading companies on April 7.
Reuters reported screenshots on April 11
According to reports, the source revealed that the company has nearly 600000 tons of North Korean coal in various ports, and a total of 2 million tons are stranded in Chinese ports, waiting for return.
Eikon shipping data shows that most ships have recently left China’s coal ports, including Weihai and Penglai. Most of the ships returned were full of cargo.
North Korea coal terminal data map
Due to North Korea’s repeated missile tests widely criticized internationally, the UN Security Council issued Resolution 2321, condemning North Korea’s nuclear test on September 9, 2016 and demanding North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and missile programs and impose sanctions on them. China also responded positively to the call of the United Nations. On February 18 this year, China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs announced that the import of coal originating from North Korea would be suspended this year from 19th.
China also announced in last December that it would suspend the import of coal from North Korea by the end of the same month to implement the sanctions resolution. According to the General Administration of Customs, China’s coal import from North Korea last year was 1.189 billion US dollars, an increase of about 13% over the previous year.
Earlier reports said that just the day after North Korea’s missile test, a batch of 16000 tons of North Korea anthracite worth 1 million US dollars was returned at Wenzhou port of China because of “excessive mercury content”.
According to the analysis quoted by Japan’s Kyodo news agency, coal exports are the main term of foreign exchange of North Korea. Coal exports may account for about 40% of North Korea’s exports to China. China’s long-term suspension of imports is bound to bring economic blow to North Korea.
But at the same time, North Korea is also an important coal supplier to China, especially coking coal used for steelmaking. After stopping importing coal from North Korea, China is seeking to import coal from the United States to fill the gap.
According to the report, from 2014 to 2016, coking coal from the United States was not exported to China, but by late February, shipments soared to more than 400000 tons. As the previous strong cyclone “Debbie” hit Australia’s coal and railway transportation system hard, China imported even more coal from the United States.
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[compilation/observer network Zhuang Yi] according to a report by Reuters on April 11, a trade source from China Dandong Cheng Tai Trading Co., Ltd., one of the largest buyers of North Korea coal, said, received an official instruction from the Chinese Customs Department to return it to North Korea.
