China increased its imports of coking coal by 6.4% y/y in October

In October this year, China increased its imports of coking coal by 6.4% year-on-year to 10.6 million tons. Compared to September, the figure fell by about 3%. This was reported by Kallanish, citing data from Chinese customs.

In January-October, the country imported about 94.2 million tons of this product, which is 4.8% less than in the same period last year.

The decrease in volumes is mainly due to a decline in supplies from Mongolia in October, as border crossings between the countries were closed for a week at the beginning of the month. Shipments from Russia, the second largest supplier, also declined during the period, while Australian shipments increased significantly.

It should be noted that Chinese mining companies reduced iron ore production by 3.2% in January-October 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, to 851.74 million tons. In October, this figure was 84.03 million tons, which is 0.3% less than in the previous year and 2.9% less than in the previous month. Iron ore imports to China for 10 months amounted to 1.03 billion tons, which is 0.7% more than in the previous year.

As reported by GMK Center, the country’s steelmakers reduced steel production in October by 12% compared to October 2024, to 72 million tons. Compared to the previous month, the figure decreased by 2%. This is the fifth consecutive decline in monthly smelting volume, as a result of which steel production in January-October this year decreased to 818 million tons (-4% y/y).