China’s October coal imports fall 10% as holidays curb demand

China’s coal imports in October fell 10% from a year earlier as public holidays reduced working days, Reuters reported on Friday, citing customs data.

Imports totaled 41.74 million metric tons last month, down from 46.25 million tons in October last year and 46 million tons in September, which was a nine-month high.

Imports fell both month-on-month and year-on-year because of domestic holidays but remained at relatively high levels, said Feng Dongbin, vice general manager at Fenwei Digital Information Technology, as quoted by Reuters.

China’s Mid-Autumn Festival coincided with the National Day holiday this year, resulting in an extended break from October 1 to 8, compared with seven days last year.

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“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.

He added that the price gap between domestic and imported coal continues to create opportunities for imports, which are likely to stay high through the end of the year.

For the first 10 months of 2025, China imported 387.62 million tons of coal, down 11% from a year earlier, the data also showed.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak