The U.S. mines have experienced a stark turnaround and boost in exports to China to the highest since 2013, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

According to miner Coronado Global Resources Inc., the Frontier Unity bulk vessel left the port of Newport News, Virginia with a 136,400-ton cargo bound for steelmakers in China, which was the biggest shipment of its kind from a U.S. east coast port, the report said.

“Our U.S. operations continue to successfully move met coal into China at record levels,” Gerry Spindler, Coronado’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

He noted that the diplomatic tensions between Australia and China have reduced coal imports of the Asian nation from Australia, which may remain in place for a number of years.

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