China's coal exports have been falling sharply in volume since June, and the total export volume of this year is predicted to be approximately the same as last year, according to Customs statistics.

     The statistics show that in the first eight months China exported 33.64 million tonnes of coal, up 0.3 percent over a year earlier; the export value was 3.36 billion U.S. dollars, up 75.6 percent.

     However, the export of coal in July and August fell month by month. In August the export was 3.37 million tonnes, down 1.41 million tonnes and 3.62 million tonnes from June and July, respectively.

     The Customs report, released last week, said that with oil prices staying high this year, the demand for coal has been rising sharply in the international market while major coal producing countries have adopted restrictive measures on exports, leading to rising coal prices in the international market.

     Many Chinese coal enterprises have been willing to make a good bargain in the international market, while at home many power plants had to shut down because of short coal supplies, the report said.

     To ensure domestic coal supply and fend off the impact of high coal price on lower-reach products, China decided to raise the interim export tariff of coking coal from 5 percent to 10 percent and levy a 10 percent interim export tariff on other soft coal as of Aug. 20, while cutting the export quota of this year.

     The report said that with rising export cost, the falling trend of coal exports is expected to continue.