China Cuts Coal Export Levies to Spur Declining Economy

Reuters reported that China, the world’s biggest coal consumer, will lower its export tariffs for coal beginning January 1, 2015.

As quoted in the market news:

The reduction in coal export tariffs comes after intense lobbying by the China National Coal Association as a slump in coal prices have put nearly 70 percent of the country’s miners in the red and more than half to owe wages.

But with some sectors, such as coal and rubber, facing deep structural issues, analysts say the tariff adjustments are going to offer very limited support.

Despite the sharp drop in coal export taxes, industry experts said there was little risk of Chinese supplies flooding the Asian Pacific seaborne market as domestic prices were significantly higher than those from top exporters Australia and Indonesia.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.