China Strands $700 Million Worth of Australian Coal Over ‘Quality’ Problems

Can you crusade against the Chinese and expect to line your pockets with their import dollars at the same time?

China has suggested almost $700 million worth of Australian coal is being held up at ports due to “environmental quality” problems.

For months, dozens of bulk carriers have been stranded off the coast of two major Chinese ports unable to unload their cargoes, with a Bloomberg estimate of more than 60 ships now in limbo in November.

Chinese authorities have not previously explained the exact reasons for the long delays, which have coincided with a series of restrictions and bans Beijing has imposed on other Australian exports amid diplomatic tensions.

But in answer to a question on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has for the first time suggested quality problems are to blame.

China has unofficially banned Australian coal imports since October amid souring relations between the two countries, and in turn, increased imports from Mongolia and Russia.

Mr Zhao said China had strengthened the examination and testing of imported coal regarding safety, quality and environmental standards “so as to better protect the legitimate interests and the environmental interests of the Chinese side”.

Coal is one of seven Australian imported products that have reportedly been targeted with bans by China amid rising tensions.

Earlier this month, multiple Australian exporters said that their Chinese business partners had been informally instructed by Commerce ministry officials to stop buying seven types of Australian exports, including coal.

But many of the bulk carriers sitting off the Chinese ports arrived with their Australian cargo prior to those instructions being given.

China’s Government has stopped short of directly linking the various trade measures with its anger at Australia but has made little effort to dispel the widely-held view that it is retaliation for a series of Australian moves Beijing objects to, including a public call for a coronavirus inquiry.

The Federal Government last week said the reports were “deeply troubling” but China has denied it is levying coordinated trade action against Australia.

China accounts for about one-third of Australia’s total exports.

The stalled shipments account for about a quarter of all imports waiting to pass customs clearance in China.

China’s coking coal imports from Australia slumped in October to 1.53 million tonnes, or about 26 per cent of its total imports of the fuel, customs data showed, down from 78 per cent in March.

Despite the bans, Australia remains China’s top seaborne coal supplier in 2020, as Mongolia was forced to trim exports in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Source: ABC News

13 Comments
  1. Field Du Boulay says

    Its a bad idea to piss off someone who you depend on to help pay your bills. That’s what comes from blindly supporting a collapsing empire.

  2. AlexanderAmproz says

    To be a US/NATO pet has a cost…. !

    US Culture is Warmongers Genocides and Drugs,
    Chinese Culture is the Silk Road Trade… !

    Make your choice :

    Chewing-gum, Coca-Cola & Hamburger
    or
    Dim Sum & Peking duck…

    NB:
    71% Of Military Age Americans Too Sick To Join, Study Says
    https://www.naturalblaze.com/2018/03/71-percent-military-age-americans-too-sick-join.html

    PS:
    ” Tell me what do you eat, I will tell you who you are ”

    The Physiology of Taste;
    Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Jump to navigationJump to search
    This article is about the gastronome Brillat de Savarin. For the cheese from Burgundy, see Brillat-Savarin cheese.

    Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
    “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”
    Brillat-Savarin

    Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃tɛlm bʁija savaʁɛ̃]; 1 April 1755, Belley, Ain – 2 February 1826, Paris) was a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome:[1] “Grimod and Brillat-Savarin. Between them, two writers effectively founded the whole genre of the gastronomic essay
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Anthelme_Brillat-Savarin

    The Physiology of Taste; Or, Transcendental Gastronomy by Brillat-Savarin
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5434

  3. Le Ruse says

    Sarah Ugly-Young is ecstatic at this news ?? So is Idiot Adam …

  4. pogohere says

    This is an extension of the war precipitated by the US.

  5. ke4ram says

    Old adage: “Never bite the hand that feeds you”

    Another: “Don’t piss on your customers”

    This applies to nations and businesses, both of which today are acting as if they are the essential ones. Reality is going to be a real bitch for them.

    Of course the common sense challenged nut jobs of our day will have to relearn the lessons all over again.

    1. Le Ruse says

      &.. When you are in business, don’t involve politics & political correctness in your affairs ! Be like Switzerland !

      1. Séamus Ó Néill says

        Switzerland is hardly lily white. Both Switzerland and the Vatican, although in the centre of Europe, came through both world wars unscathed…did you ever wonder why?

        1. Le Ruse says

          Because they have in their vaults ,the Gold of you know whom ??

      2. itchyvet says

        From my observation of events over the last 60 years, Switzerland is well and truly compromised. When America says JUMP, the Swiss say How high, especially the Banks and money managers.

        1. Le Ruse says

          Well, I don’t mean bankers, we do know, who the bankers pray to …

  6. Séamus Ó Néill says

    Perhaps they’ll learn that being a parrotting mouthpiece for the psychopathic US is not a great financial move. Being tied to Britains apron and being America’s lackey doesn’t look good for a supposedly independent country !

    1. itchyvet says

      Actually Seamus, the apron string you mentioned was most assuredly cut and disposed of during WW 2, when the Brits betrayed their Colonial bretheren by ABANDONING them to the Japanese. When the first bombs arrived in Darwin, the Australian P.M. at the time called Churchill and told him to order the return of Australian troops enroute to the European theatre. Churchill refused. So the Aussie P.M. contacted the ships and ordered them directly to return home, they had a war to fight here. So it happened. From that day hence, the Brits were no longer the apple in Aussies eyes. Then of course later came the great betrayal again with the Common Market being formed, once again Australians were simply told to piss of find your own markets. Now the Aussies who lived thru those betrayals are all in old folks’s homes, and the younger ones have no idea of the betrayal’s carried out, thinking the sun shines out of the proverbial Brits Anus’s. Guess they too will find out in time the realities. Sad thing is, when betrayed by the Brits, instead of growing a pair, and standing on our own two feet, we quickly suckered up to the Yanks for a replacement, who will, when the time comes, do exactly the same thing to us as the Brits did. Stupid is, as stupid does.

      1. Séamus Ó Néill says

        Excellent synopsis of, relatively recent, Australian history. My “apron-strings” reference was more a jibe at the inability to rid themselves of the “forever parasite”, the British monarcy, in the 1999 referendum. Certain politicians, usually bought, tow the imperialist line with ardent fervour and Australians are no exception to the rule. With unbelievable myopia, no discernable benefits and absolutely certain repercussions, they ,once again, threw their lot in with the US against their largest trading partner….fool me once etc, etc.

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