The world’s miners, already smarting from a steep drop in iron ore prices, are about to be hit by a Chinese ban on low-quality coal that comes into effect next year.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planner, has banned the burning of coal with ash content of more than 16 per cent or sulphur content of more than 1 per cent from 2015 in populous and prosperous eastern cities that are the focus of national efforts to fight air pollution.
That would in effect bar the import of lower-quality coal from Australia, southern Africa and elsewhere, since the cities along the east coast are also the biggest consumers of imported coal.