煤炭进口:风光不再

Coal Imports: No More Blazes

在国家宽进严出政策的指导下，我国煤炭出口规模持续大幅萎缩，进口规模则呈跳跃式增长，而在2003年我国还是仅次于澳大利亚、排名世界第二位的煤炭出口国。凭借价格优势，进口煤炭纷纷涌向我国华南、华东地区，甚至已通过江河或陆路运输向内陆地区渗透。对国内煤市产生了一定冲击。但自今年2月起，我国煤炭进口量开始回落，进口煤炭的光芒似乎已无往日耀眼。究其原因，一方面国内煤价跌至谷底，进口煤炭价格优势已十分微弱；另一方面，在经济增速放缓的大背景下，国内煤消费量已近顶峰，市场短期内难有更大作为。

China's coal exports shrank dramatically for along time while the import skept growing in leaps and bounds. By virtue of the price advantage, imported coal poured into south and east of China, and even penetrated into the inland area through rivers or land transport. But since February this year,China's coal imports have started to fall. In the first three quarters of the year, the country imported 223 million tons of coal, a year-on-yeardecrease of 6.7%, and the value totaled RMB 106.33 billion, a decline of 21.2%.Meanwhile, the average price dropped to RMB 477.1 perton, a decrease of 15.5%.The decline came from both the price and the demand. The domestic coal price has already bottomed out, getting closer to the price of imports. And the domestic coal consumption has climbed close to peak as the economy has kept slowing down. As the demand becomes weaker and the environmental regulation goes more stringent, the trend of the declining imports tends to continue in the short term.