China’s demand for coal and iron ore surges despite rising animosity with Australia – Sydney Morning Herald

China’s surging demand for iron ore and coal worldwide has boosted Australian exports despite the rising animosity between the two countries.
The surge illustrates a two-track trade relationship developing between the economies: imports critical to China’s infrastructure stimulus are climbing while trade bans are imposed on beef, barley and education, which can be sourced from elsewhere.
Chinese imports and exports beat market expectations in the first half of 2020. Credit:Bloomberg
Iron ore imports into China grew by 10 per cent over the first half of the year, coal by 13 per cent and LNG by 3 per cent. Tuesday’s data from China’s customs department does not breakdown commodity imports by country but Australia accounts for up to 60 per cent of China’s annual iron ore imports and more than 30 per cent of its coal imports. Overall imports across all sectors from Australia fell by 0.1 per cent in the year to June.
The new figures also show China’s textile exports including masks have jumped by 32 per cent during the first six months of this year, with medical devices jumping by almost 50 per cent, pointing to a growing demand for Chinese medical products during the pandemic. Both exports and imports beat market expectations to record a positive result, putting China on track to become the only G20 economy to grow in 2020.

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