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China's Benchmark Coal Price Rises 5 Percent as Stockpiles Fall
By Winnie Zhu
Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Coal prices at China's Qinhuangdao port, a
benchmark in the world's biggest producer of the fuel, rose 5 percent
last week as stockpiles decreased.
The price of top-grade coal used in power stations climbed to 610 yuan
($89) a metric ton as of Dec. 22 compared with 580 yuan Dec. 15,
according to weekly data published by the China Coal Transport and
Distribution Association.
The Qinhuangdao price increased for the first time in nine weeks after
stockpiles at China's biggest coal port fell 17 percent in a week.
Inventories declined to 6.57 million tons as of Dec. 20 from 7.88
million tons Dec. 14, the association said in a separate statement today.
``I don't think the coal price increase signals a rebound in the
market,' David Fang, a director at the association, said by telephone
from Beijing today. ``It's just a short-term rebound. Coal demand
won't be able to recover so quickly.'
The price has almost halved from July's record of 1,080 yuan after the
world's fourth-biggest economy grew at the slowest pace in five years
in the third quarter. China may face a surplus of coal, fuels and
power within the next two years on waning demand and a ``sizable'
expansion in capacity, Wang Siqiang, a deputy director at the National
Energy Administration, said on Dec. 12.
China, the world's biggest consumer of coal, became a net exporter of
the fuel last month after imports fell to a three- year low of 2.17
million tons. Exports reached 2.69 million tons.
Electricity production dropped a second month in November, slumping
9.6 percent to 254 billion kilowatt-hours as factories shut because of
reduced exports. China's power output is 80 percent fueled by coal.
The government of Shanxi, China's largest coal production base, told
major mines in the province not to exceed designed output capacities,
the official Xinhua News Agency said today, citing the Shanxi Coal
Industry Bureau. The mines were ordered to produce 18.15 million tons
of the fuel in January.
By Winnie Zhu
Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Coal prices at China's Qinhuangdao port, a
benchmark in the world's biggest producer of the fuel, rose 5 percent
last week as stockpiles decreased.
The price of top-grade coal used in power stations climbed to 610 yuan
($89) a metric ton as of Dec. 22 compared with 580 yuan Dec. 15,
according to weekly data published by the China Coal Transport and
Distribution Association.
The Qinhuangdao price increased for the first time in nine weeks after
stockpiles at China's biggest coal port fell 17 percent in a week.
Inventories declined to 6.57 million tons as of Dec. 20 from 7.88
million tons Dec. 14, the association said in a separate statement today.
``I don't think the coal price increase signals a rebound in the
market,' David Fang, a director at the association, said by telephone
from Beijing today. ``It's just a short-term rebound. Coal demand
won't be able to recover so quickly.'
The price has almost halved from July's record of 1,080 yuan after the
world's fourth-biggest economy grew at the slowest pace in five years
in the third quarter. China may face a surplus of coal, fuels and
power within the next two years on waning demand and a ``sizable'
expansion in capacity, Wang Siqiang, a deputy director at the National
Energy Administration, said on Dec. 12.
China, the world's biggest consumer of coal, became a net exporter of
the fuel last month after imports fell to a three- year low of 2.17
million tons. Exports reached 2.69 million tons.
Electricity production dropped a second month in November, slumping
9.6 percent to 254 billion kilowatt-hours as factories shut because of
reduced exports. China's power output is 80 percent fueled by coal.
The government of Shanxi, China's largest coal production base, told
major mines in the province not to exceed designed output capacities,
the official Xinhua News Agency said today, citing the Shanxi Coal
Industry Bureau. The mines were ordered to produce 18.15 million tons
of the fuel in January.
