Australian coal miners slipped on Friday after China restricted the access of Australian coking coal citing environmental checks while Canberra tried to play down the restrictions.
Josh Frydenberg, Australian treasurer, played down the ban on imports into the Chinese port of Dalian on Friday and dismissed concerns that the move was politically-motivated. “Well, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Mr Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. “The Australia-China trading relationship is exceptionally strong and exceptionally important”.
Concerns swirled that the import controls were linked to political tensions between Canberra and Beijing after Australia banned Chinese telecoms maker Huawei from operating 5G networks last year.