That is an increase of 300,000t and will be largely met with imports, Platts has reported.
The report said that to ease coal rail bottlenecks, the Chinese government would seek to stop large amounts of coal being railed in from western and northwestern regions.
According to a Beijing-based coal shipping and trading company executive, China will maintain its high level of imports for the foreseeable future.
“The cancellation of the import duty on brown coal from January 1, 2012, onwards has confirmed the central government’s commitment to encourage coal imports,” he said.
