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Beijing – China will ban the sale and import of “dirty” coal in less than four months, a top government body said, in an anti-pollution move that could have repercussions for key exporters including Australia.Coal with sulphur content of more than 3 percent and ash content of more than 40 percent will no longer be permitted as of January 1, according to a notice posted late on Monday on the website of China’s powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner.

The Chinese government made the move “in an effort to improve air quality in its major cities”, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

China’s three decades of rapid industrialisation have transformed its economy and seen incomes soar, but have also brought severe environmental consequences including smog that regularly blankets its cities.

Much of that pollution is driven by the Asian giant’s heavy reliance on coal. China is the world’s largest consumer of coal, accounting for around half of global consumption.

Seeking to address mounting public concern about the environment, Chinese premier Li Keqiang in March said that China “will declare war against pollution and fight it with the same determination we battled poverty”.

The government will shut down 50,000 small coal-fired furnaces this year, clean up coal-burning power plants and remove six million high-emission vehicles from the roads, Li said.

Australia – whose economic growth has been fuelled in part by Chinese demand for energy and raw materials – may feel the brunt of the impact of Beijing’s latest move.

The country exports 50 million tonnes of thermal coal a year to China, according to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Australia yesterday played down the impact of China banning the sale and import of “dirty” coal, saying miners would adapt and exports would not be significantly affected.

The Sydney Morning Herald splashed the story on its front page yesterday, saying it could expose the industry to billions of dollars in lost sales.

But the Minerals Council of Australia, a top industry body, said this was “alarmist” and there was “no evidence to suggest that Australian coal exports to China would be significantly affected”.

“We are confident that the Australian industry can meet the proposed specifications and therefore the MCA sees no impact from these regulations,” it said in a statement.

It added that almost all Australian black thermal coal would be well within the thresholds for ash, sulphur and energy applying to imported coal and could be blended with other coal to meet the target if it was not.

The council said the regulations largely refer to what is colloquially known as “San Coal”, coal used for small boilers and domestic heating, and not large scale power plants or other industrial users.

“We are not aware that Australian coal is supplied in these markets,” it said.

Seeking to address mounting public concern about the environment, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in March said that China “will declare war against pollution and fight it with the same determination we battled poverty”.

Despite this, the council said coal currently accounts for 80 percent of China’s electricity output “and all leading energy forecasting agencies and analysts agree that ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation will drive robust coal demand for decades to come”. – Fin24.