Dropping Chinese demand for imported thermal coal will likely have the biggest impact on US producers who sell into markets across the Atlantic, global research firm Wood Mackenzie said Wednesday, December 17. That is because the estimated 25 million mt (27.6 million st) drop in imports from 2014 to 2015, which was ordered by the Chinese government to both protect local mining interests and the environment, will push lower-cost Indonesian and Australian thermal coal into the Atlantic, said Jonny Sultoon, an Annapolis, Maryland-based senior analyst for Wood Mackenzie. “There is a volume shift taking place back into the Atlantic Basin that is a threat for US exports,” Sultoon said. South Africa, which can sell to either the Pacific Basin or the Atlantic Basin, is now shifting back to the Atlantic, he said. Article continues below… Platts Coal Trader International is the only daily publication […]