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Warmer weather, Lunar New Year drive down China's February coal imports

China imported 20.9 million tonnes of coal in February, down from the prior month's four-year high of 27.8 million tonnes, Reuters reported March 7, citing data from the General Administration of Customs.

The decrease was driven by warmer weather and slower demand during the Lunar New Year, compared to strong winter demand in January.

"The coal supply crunch has eased since mid-February, so the advantages of imported coal became less obvious," the report quoted Xu Bo, analyst at Haitong Futures, as saying.

February's coal imports were the lowest since July 2017. Despite this, year-to-date coal imports were still up 14% year over year to 48.7 million tonnes.

The country recently laid out plans to slash coal and steel capacities this year by 150 million tonnes and 30 million tonnes, respectively.