China’s resumption of imports of Australian coal is upending coal trade in Asia once again, three years after a weakening of Chinese-Australian ties and the subsequent ban on Chinese purchases of coal from Australia. Relations between the two countries deteriorated in 2020 after the Australian government called for an international inquiry into Beijing’s handling of the initial stages of the Covid pandemic. The call led to a retaliatory ban on Australian coal imports into one of the world’s biggest consumers of the commodity. …
