US dry bulk shipments to China jump 104% as trade relations improve
US dry bulk shipments to China rose 104%, with coal shipments up 44% year on year and petcoke up 33%, though coal volumes remain 77% below 2024 levels. Panamax vessels carried 68% of cargo volumes from the US to China and supramax ships a further 28%. A round of US-China negotiations produced an agreement to provide more favourable tariff treatment for around USD 30bn worth of goods in each direction, covering coal and most grains but excluding soya beans, and China committed to importing at least 10m tonnes of US coal in 2027 and 2028.
Why it matters: The tariff agreement and China's coal import commitment bear on the briefing's trade theme, as they redirect US-China dry bulk flows and tonne-mile demand.