보기: Market Movers Asia, Jan. 16-20: Chinese import requirements in focus for thermal coal, crude oil

This week, Asian thermal coal demand will likely be steady before the Lunar New Year holiday amid sufficient stockpiles.

It remains to be seen how prices will fare if China raises the volumes of Australian coal procurement after the two nations partially resumed coal trade. The market is also keeping an eye on whether Indian power plants will start placing import orders following the government's directive.

China's new energy vehicle sales nearly doubled on the year to reach 6.89 million units last year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The association further estimated China's NEV sales to reach an ambitious target of 9 million units in 2023, but high lithium salt prices and the scrapping of NEV subsidies pose challenges.

Chinese lithium salt prices have steadily declined since November last year as cost pressures led to sweeping production cuts downstream, with the downtrend expected to continue until after the Lunar New Year.

After securing ample import quotas last week, China's state-run and private sector independent refiners are poised to actively purchase spot sweet and sour crude cargoes from the Middle East, Far East Russia and South America. On January 9, China's Ministry of Commerce released the second batch of crude import quotas to the country's 33 qualified refineries, totaling 108.78 million mt, or 797 million barrels.

The move comes even before the first-round allocation was exhausted, signaling Beijing's intention to accelerate feedstock inflows as it hopes for a revival in demand after a long spell of pandemic-related restrictions. Analysts and industry sources also said that oil prices hovering below $100/b have created an opportunity for China to replenish crude inventories at home.

I'm Jesline Tang. Thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.