China Bohai steam coal price falls first time since March

Thursday, 07 Jul 2011

Bloomberg reported that China Bohai coal prices along six northern ports fell for the first time since March after stockpiles and imports of the fuel increased.

According to the Qinhuangdao Seaborne Coal Market website Bohai Rim Steam Coal Price Index or BSPI fell 0.12% to CNY 842 per tonne compared with a week earlier.

The weekly gauge tracks power station coal prices at six major Chinese ports.

According to China Coal Transport and Distribution Association Coal stockpiles at the nation major power plants rose to more than 64.6 million tons in mid June or close to 18 days of use after utilities built inventories for summer. Prices at Qinhuangdao, another benchmark power-station coal at the nation largest port for the fuel remained unchanged on July 4 after reaching the highest in more than two years in June.

Beijing based coal association said in a statement that Bohai coal prices may fail to increase in summer because of rising imports and high inventories. Chinese coastal coal prices may decline.

According to Chinese customs data imports of the fuel from countries including Indonesia and Australia climbed to a four-month high of 13.6 million tons in May after higher domestic prices made overseas supplies more attractive. (sourced from Bloomberg)