Chinese buyers of coal are having trouble securing financing to buy coal from Russia, the world’s third-largest coal exporter, as China’s banks are wary of sanctions themselves after selected Russian banks were expelled from the SWIFT banking system. “Most banks have stopped issuing letters of credit after the SWIFT sanctions. As almost all contracts are dollar-denominated, we have no other way to make the payment,” a trader dealing in Russian coal and based in China told Reuters on Tuesday. Despite the fact that Russia’s large-volume energy exports are not directly targeted by sanctions, the other sanctions already in place—especially the SWIFT ban—is making a growing number of traders in all energy commodities reluctant to deal with Russia, all the more so that banks decline to issue letters of credit in U.S. dollars. Chinese traders are discussing with Russian coal exporters payments in Chinese yuan, for the first time, according […]