China Bans Shipment of Coal and Iron Ore from North Korea
CHINA has called for an end to coal, iron ore lead concentrates and ore, lead and seafood imports from North Korea, in line with UN sanctions imposed following Kim Jong-un’s nuclear and missile proliferation plans.
According to MANA, Chinese media reported that the customs agency will stop processing imports from North Korea from midnight on September 5 this year. However, the shipments already on their way to China will be cleared as usual by customs ahead of the sanction deadline.
Although Beijing had pledged to fully enforce the new sanctions, the development might not cause big ructions in the dry bulk market.
“I do not think that the new announcement really adds much new [details],” said Banchero Costa head of research Ralph Leszczynski.
“For bulk shipping, this is really only about coal, as volumes of other commodities like iron ore and lead are quite insignificant.”
The new ban “is more to show to the world that China is doing something at a time when tensions between the US and North Korea are increasing,” Mr Leszczynski said.
Coal imports from North Korea to China in the first seven months of 2017 were down some 75% year-on-year to less than three million tonnes, Banchero Costa data shows.
In 2016, China imported some 22m tonnes of coal from North Korea, about 9% of China's total coal imports.