SINGAPORE: China has expanded long-term thermal coal supply contracts for 2023 to all coal mines and asked power utilities to source more of their demand through those contracts, as it aims to ensure market supply and stabilise prices.

All coal mining firms and coal-fired power and heating plants will be covered under the long-term contracts, a document issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) showed, a wider range compare to 2022’s order of covering only mines with annual capacity bigger than 300,000 tonnes.

Coal mines should put at least 80% of their overall output and 75% of their thermal coal output under the long-term contracts.