BEIJING – China’s coal imports from Mongolia surged 61% in April.

As reported by Reuters on Friday (22/05), the sharp increase enabled Mongolia to overtake Indonesia, the world’s largest coal exporter and long-standing main supplier of fuel to China.

According to data from China’s General Administration of Customs released on Wednesday, Mongolia shipped 11.33 million metric tonnes of coal across the border to its neighbour, narrowly surpassing Indonesia, which sold 11.12 million tonnes, down 22% year-on-year.

Despite being overtaken in April, Indonesia’s shipments during the first four months of this year (January-April) fell only 8% and still maintained a lead over Mongolia, with 61.43 million tonnes compared with 39.37 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, Mongolia’s shipments still recorded a 61% increase compared with the same period last year.

Explaining the market dynamics behind the shift, maritime analytics platform Signal Ocean stated in a note: “Higher domestic output and lower local coal prices have reduced the competitiveness of imported low-calorific value (low-CV) Indonesian cargoes in China’s coastal market.”

Beyond pricing competition, greater volatility in Indonesian coal shipments is also expected going forward.

On Wednesday, the Indonesian government revealed a broad plan to centralise exports of coal and other key commodities, including palm oil, under a state-owned company. The plan unsettled investors, as the policy is viewed as an effort to strengthen government control over pricing.

More broadly, the change in supplier rankings comes amid an overall decline in China’s coal imports. China’s coal imports fell 14% year-on-year in April to 33.1 million metric tonnes, while cumulative imports for the year to date declined 2.1% to 149.4 million metric tonnes.

The decline also affected other major suppliers. China’s imports from Russia and Australia, the third and fourth largest suppliers respectively, fell 30% and 39% in April. (SF/LM)

The following are the coal import figures from China’s main suppliers:

Country April 2026 YoY Change Jan-April 2026 YoY Change

Indonesia 11,120,116 -22% 61,428,792 -8%

Mongolia 11,326,872 61% 39,366,369 61%

Russia 5,211,314 -30% 22,622,574 -17%

Australia 4,223,646 -39% 16,767,584 -10%