China’s coal imports in May were almost unchanged from the same month a year earlier as tight government curbs on shipments, designed to cool an overheating market, kept a lid on foreign coal buying. Coal arrivals in May inched up to 22.33 million tonnes from 22.28 million tonnes in April, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday – less than 1 percent up from May 2017. For the first five months of 2018, coal imports were up 8.2 percent at 120.73 million tonnes, customs data showed. The slowdown came as Beijing intervened to calm the red-hot coal market as prices surged, adopting tight controls on imports, two traders said. “May imports would be much higher…if the government had not imposed […]