Port Waratah Coal Services' export terminals at Australia's Newcastle port shipped 2.35 million mt of mostly thermal coal to China in March, down 6% from February, the operator said in a report Tuesday.
China's offtake represented 26.3% of the March exports, up slightly from 25.6% in February.
The shipments to China included a 98,000-mt cargo bound for Hong Kong, without which China's Newcastle coal imports were 2.26 million mt in March.
Port Waratah's Chinese customers prefer Newcastle thermal coal with maximum 23% ash content on an as-received basis, while Japanese buyers prefer an ash content of less than 14% on an as-received basis.
Prices for high-ash Newcastle thermal coal dipped to $63/mt FOB Newcastle in March, from $66/mt in February, basis 5,500 kcal/kg NAR, according to Platts data.
Japan's share of PWCS coal exports slipped to a four-month low of 3.7 million mt in March, from 4.4 million mt in February.
Cargo vessels destined for Japan accounted for 41.3% of the coal shipped from the PWCS terminals in March, and Japan's market share in February was 45%, the report said.
Shipments to South Korea rebounded last month to 1.24 million mt, up from 993,000 mt in February but below January's record high of 2.2 million mt.
March offtake by Taiwan and Mexico were steady month on month at about 910,000 mt and 410,000 mt, respectively, the report said.
India returned to Port Waratah's list of destinations for coal shipments in March, when a ship bound for India loaded a 50,000-mt cargo. PWCS last exported 125,000 mt to India in in January.
Port Waratah exported 8 million mt of thermal coal in March, or 90% of total shipments, with the semi-soft coking coal making up the remaining 897,000 mt of 10%, the report said.
Export data for another coal terminal at Newcastle port -- the 66 million mt/year NCIG terminal operated by the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group of five coal producers including BHP Billiton, Centennial Coal and Peabody Energy -- is not published on a regular basis.
