Piles of coal sit near port facilities as gantry cranes stand in the background at the Qinhuangdao Port.Credit:Bloomberg
Five harbours overseen by Dalian customs - Dalian,Bayuquan,Panjin,Dandong and Beiliang - will not allow Australian coal to clear through customs,said the Dalian port official,who wished to remain anonymous.
Coal imports from Russia and Indonesia will not be affected.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he has contacted Australia's ambassador in Beijing.
"I'm aware of unconfirmed and unsourced media reports and have asked our Ambassador in Beijing to urgently clarify their veracity,"he said.
"We continue to engage closely with industry on matters of market access ... China is a valued partner of Australia and we trust that our free trade agreement commitments to each other will continue to be honoured."
A coal-fired power station in the Chinese city of Qingdao.Credit:The Age/SMH
Birmingham also said that Australia's exports of coal to China in the fourth quarter of 2018 were higher in volume and value than in the same period in 2017.
The Dalian ports handled about 14 million tonnes of coal last year,half of which was from Australia,according to Orient Futures analyst Gu Meng.
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Beijing has been trying to restrict imports of coal more generally to support domestic prices.
A Beijing-based coal trader said Dalian had cleared about 6 million tonnes of coal in January that had been delayed since late 2018 as China slowed customs clearance to curb imports.
The delayed cargoes would not be included in the 12 million tonnes under the 2019 quota,the trader said,citing customs information.
Dalian handles both thermal and coking coal imports but the clampdown is expected to have a bigger impact on coking coal,used in steelmaking,rather than on thermal coal,used to generate electricity.