Japan is set to import the highest quantity of coal in January in just over two years, as utilities scramble to get supplies for power generation amid high spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing intelligence firm Kpler and Japanese customs data. A cold and snowy winter in Japan has raised the electricity demand, and domestic utilities are looking to buy more coal for power generation. Japan is expected to import over 17.3 million tons of coal in January, according to Edwin Toh, a dry bulk manager at Kpler, quoted by Bloomberg. The volume would be Japan’s highest level of coal imports in one month since December 2019 and around 5 percent over the five-year seasonal average, Japanese customs data showed. Coal prices have also surged in the past weeks due to a month-long export ban top coal exporter Indonesia, as well as the Russia-Ukraine […]