Chinese business people in the city of Dandong, Liaoning Province, have been energetically preparing for trade with North Korea in recent weeks, Daily NK has learned. According to sources in China and North Korea, the main items requested by North Korean trade companies are building materials and food supplies.
A source in China told Daily NK on Monday that Chinese traders whose work had been on hold are moving quickly to meet a surge in orders from North Korean importers this month.
North Korean trading companies are mostly requesting building materials. Many of them are reportedly ordering large amounts of aluminum, which is needed to make residential doors and windows.
As North Korea steps up efforts to build houses in rural areas, along with 10,000 homes in Pyongyang’s Hwasong District, there is a burgeoning demand for aluminum doors and windows, a source in North Korea said.
Preparations to install doors and windows appeared in North Korean media reports on Aug. 9 about North Korean Premier Kim Tok Hun’s inspection of the residential construction site in Hwasong District.
But Chinese customs authorities closely monitor imports of aluminum because high-strength aluminum, a component in nuclear centrifuges, is prohibited under UN Security Council sanctions. Chinese merchants are very careful not to violate the rules because of the severe penalties awaiting anyone who is caught.
While North Korean trading companies are asking for steel and other building materials, Chinese merchants are very cautious about making deals because of the consequences of being apprehended in the initial period after trading resumes.
Other import items that North Korean trading companies are frequently requesting are seasoning, sugar and soybean oil, the source said.
So far, there are no indications inside North Korea of cargo trains resuming service between China and North Korea. If cargo service were to resume between Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province, and Dandong, Liaoning Province, the North Korean central government would have to issue train times and disease control and customs guidance to customs authorities in Sinuiju. However, there have been no indications yet that those measures have been taken.
If cargo trains do resume service between the two countries, it is also possible that goods imported into North Korea would have to pass through the quarantine facility in Uiju, rather than in Sinuiju. Railroad tracks near that facility, however, were washed out in a recent downpour and are currently undergoing repairs.
“Repairs are currently being done on the railroad near the Uiju Quarantine Facility. While no orders have been given about when cargo trains will head to China, service is expected to resume as soon as the repairs are complete,” the North Korea-based source said.
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