China to halt purchases of at least seven categories of Australian commodities – report

China has ordered traders to halt key Australian commodity imports

According to Bloomberg, China has ordered commodities traders to stop importing products including coal, barley, copper ore and concentrate, sugar, timber, wine and lobster from Australia, citing people familiar with the situation.

The notice is said to have been delivered verbally to major traders in China during meetings in recent weeks. Iron ore – Australia’s biggest export to China – are not to be included in the trading halt though, according to the sources.
This confirms theĀ reportĀ from yesterday and then some, and just signifies a further escalation in tensions between the two countries as of late.
In the bigger picture, the latest development here isn’t good news for the Australian economy and the outlook will only worsen if trade tensions escalate down the road.