China's coal imports continue to slide, according to the latest figures from the General Administration of Customs (GAC). From January to August this year China imported a total of 138.59 million tons of coal, a 31.3 percent decline from the same period last year. This coal import corresponds to a value of USD 8.65 billion - 45.3 percent lower than last year.

Imports dropped 7.3 percent in August compared to the same period last year, a development that GAC mainly attributes to the fact that several major domestic coal producers lowered their prices in the past month. On the other hand, the country's coal export has increased in recent months, and China exported 530,000 tons of coal in August, a 17.8 percent improvement from the same month last year. This can primarily be traced to the fact that the Chinese government on January 1st this year lowered the export tariff from ten percent to three percent, reports GAC. China's combined coal export has however still noted an overall decline of 16 percent in the first eight months of the year.