China’s crackdown on Australian coking coal hurts its steel industry

Chinese authorities have now more or less confirmed what the market already knew, namely that they have placed what amounts to severe curbs on imports from Australia, the world’s largest exporter of coking coal used to make steel, and the second-biggest shipper of thermal coal used in power plants.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman indicated on Wednesday that “many” Australian coal shipments have “failed to meet environmental standards”.

It would be a challenge to find anybody in the coal industry who believes environmental standards are the real reason for China placing an effective ban on coal imports from…