China’s coal imports in October fell 10% from a year earlier, according to customs data on Friday, as a public holiday cut into the number of working days for the month.

But imports are expected to be supported by winter restocking in the last two months of 2025.

October imports fell to 41.74 million metric tons from 46.25 million tons a year earlier. In September, imports reached a nine-month high of 46 million metric tons.

Imports fell sequentially and from a year earlier because of domestic holidays, but remained at relatively high levels, said Feng Dongbin, vice general manager for Fenwei Digital Information Technology.

China’s Mid-Autumn Festival coincided with the National Day holiday this year, resulting in a longer break than normal – running from October 1 to 8 – compared with seven days last year.

“With expectations of winter stockpiling, domestic downstream buyers and traders are showing strong purchasing enthusiasm, which has led to domestic coal prices rising more sharply and more rapidly than seaborne coal prices,” Feng said.

“The continued price gap between domestic and imported coal has created opportunities for imports, and import volumes are expected to remain high in the last two months of the year.”

Buyers usually stock up before the winter when heating leads to a surge in coal demand.

For the first 10 months of the year, China’s coal imports fell 11% from a year earlier to 387.62 million tons, the data also showed.
Source: Reuters