China's imports of coking coal hit a 10-month high of 5.1 million mt in November, the highest since shipments of 5.6 million mt in January, according to Chinese customs data released Thursday.

November imports were up 19% from imports of 4.3 million mt a year ago and were up 21% from 4.2 million mt in October.

Imports from Mongolia, at 2.3 million mt, hit their second-highest month on record, accounting for almost half of all Chinese imports, while Australia was next with 1.5 million mt of exports to China in November.

Russia shipped 436,775 mt to China in November, while Canada sent 408,738 mt. Imports from the US stood at 279,278 mt, while Indonesian coking coal came in at 182,045 mt.

Australian coking coal was on average the most expensive, at $225/mt. Canada was next at $221/mt, followed by the US at $210/mt, Indonesia at $206/mt, Russia at $202/mt, New Zealand at $165/mt and Mongolia at $87/mt.