Sources say that Vitol has reduced its China coal trading operation

Two sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that Vitol, a global energy trading company, is reducing the size of its China thermal coal trading business it acquired recently from Noble Resources.

A source who has direct knowledge of this decision says that two of the three thermal coal traders in China are being fired. According to a second source, there is only one coal trader in the Beijing office.

Vitol failed to respond immediately to an email sent by its Europe headquarters before the opening of business hours.

Vitol purchased the team from Hong Kong's Noble Resources Trading in January, after a deal to expand its coal trading business.

Noble traded 35,000,000 tonnes of thermal coke per year, and was the leader in both metallurgical coal and coal.

The outlook for China's growth in coal demand has been weakened due to the transition from coal to renewables and an unseasonably hot winter which weighed on demand.

Sources said that China Shenhua Energy, the largest coal miner in China, has stopped buying coal on spot from April until an undetermined period.

According to a forecast by an industry association, China's imports of coal are expected to drop 1.9% this coming year after increasing 14.4% to a record level in 2024.

(source: Reuters)