The Indonesian government announced on Dec 31 that it would halt coal exports in January and some Chinese market players expressed concern. This was because Indonesian coal accounts for a large portion of China's coal imports. However, due to the rich supply of domestic coal in China, views were predominant at the moment that the domestic market was unlikely to rise significantly.

Indonesia is the largest exporter of coal, and the export volume in 2020 was about 400 million tons. Large volumes were exported to China. However, at the end of last year, the Indonesia government announced a policy to suspend coal exports from Jan 1 to 31 in order to prevent a shortage of electricity supply in the country.

Although some sources felt that the domestic market price in China might rise significantly, operation rates of domestic manufacturers were high and the supply of domestic coal was abundant. This led to views that demand would decline from mid-Jan to mid-Feb Year during the Lunar New Year and increasingly, traders pointed out that the impact on the domestic coal market would be minor.