Coal exports are under pressure on multiple fronts.Credit:Glenn Hunt
"It comes on top of COVID dampening coal demand,fiscal stimulus policies being directed to competing renewable energy and[environmental,social,and corporate] governance policies causing investors to reduce their exposure to carbon,"he said.
"Together,this renewed pressure from China means that Australian coal exporters are facing their own GFC. We are working with clients to structure their business and finances through these challenges",he said referring to the recession caused by the 2008 global financial crisis.
Chinese imports of Australian coking coal fell by more than 20 per cent in October compared to the same time last year,Commonwealth Bank analysis shows. At the same time as local state-backed miners ramp up production and China increases its imports from Canada,Russia and Mongolia. Australia exported up to $14 billion worth of coking and thermal coal to China in 2018-19.
The comments from Mr Preston come ahead of a McGrathNicol event on Tuesday with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull,economist Carol Austin and McGrathNicol senior risk adviser John Garnaut.
Mr Garnaut,who was Mr Turnbull's China adviser while he was prime minister,will discuss their role in formulating the Turnbull government's China strategy publicly for the first time.
The policy led to world-first foreign interference legislation,the Coalition's decision to ban Huawei in 2018 and a framework to counter the"covert,coercive and corrupting"diplomatic methods of the Chinese Communist Party that has now been adopted by the US National Security Council.
Malcolm Turnbull with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Credit:Wang Zhao