Australian coal body calls for urgent talks on new tariffs

China's Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Thursday that import tariffs for anthracite coal and coking coal will return to 3 percent, while non-coking coal will attract a 6 percent import tariff.

The tariffs come on top of measures that China announced in September to curb pollution, banning the import and local sale of coal with high ash and sulfur content starting in 2015. Those limits were not imposed on coal burned in power stations.

Some 70 percent of China's coal miners are producing at a loss due to a flood of new supply from Indonesia and Australia, which has sent local prices down to a six-year low.

The lower prices have left more than one-third of Australian producers operating in the red, which has led to some mine closures and thousands of job cuts.

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