Spot thermal coal prices in China resumed their climb this week to their highest in 14 months, as some regions struggled with insufficient supplies and rising demand for power. In the central province of Jiangxi, total coal stocks in power plants had fallen to just over 1 million tonnes, enough for only 9 days of consumption, far below the alarm level of 1.6 million tonnes, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Other provinces including Hunan and Shandong are also struggling with coal and power supply shortages while demand continues to rise. Coal stocks at China's major power plants were sufficient for only 9 days of use as of December 27, unchanged from a week earlier, according to sxcoal.com, an industry data website. "The strength in coal prices is likely to stay at least until the Lunar New Year - this is the peak consumption season," said Lu Ping, an analyst at China Merchants Securities.
Prices for coal with calorific value of 5,800 kcal/kg (NAR) rose more than 5 percent to 810 to 840 yuan ($118.6 to $123) a tonne, the highest in nearly 14 months, according to the Qinhuangdao Seaborne Coal Market (www.cqcoal.com). Coal with calorific value of 5,500 kcal/kg was quoted in the range of 770 to 790 yuan a tonne, up 5 percent on the week, the website said. Coal stocks at Qinhuangdao rose 4 percent on week to 5.4 million tonnes, said sxcoal.com.
Comments
Comments are closed.