Singapore/Shanghai/Beijing — A coal market only just rebounding from the lowest price in four years might now need to grapple with the prospect of China renewing its restrictions on Australian supplies.
The coal rumours are bringing back memories of early last year, when China slowed customs clearance of Australian supply amid speculation that Beijing was retaliating against a ban on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies. “We are aware of informal quotas being imposed from time to time, locally in China. That is not a new development,” Australian finance Mminister Mathias Cormann said in a Sky TV interview on Friday.