China Qinhuangdao Port's weekly inbound coal railings down 0.4% on week

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Qinhuangdao Port in northern China received 4.975 million mt of coal by rail in the week to January 15, down 19,000 mt or 0.4% from the previous week, the port said in a statement Monday. Meanwhile, the port shipped out 4.902 million mt of coal in the week to January 15, up 467,000 mt or 10.4% week on week.

Qinhuangdao Port held 6.995 million mt of coal as of January 15, up 73,000 mt or 1.1% from a week ago, Platts reported previously. The number of vessels queuing at the port fell 11% week on week to 89 on January 15.

Source: Platts

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)

China coal benchmark price drops for a fourth week

China’s Qinhuangdao coal, a national benchmark for the power-station fuel, fell for a fourth week as supplies remained above normal and the government capped prices, sources reported.
Power-station coal with an energy value of 5,500 kilocalories per kilogram declined 0.6 percent from a week earlier to a range of 770 yuan to 780 yuan a tonne, data from China Coal Transport and Distribution Association showed on Jan 10.
Coal stockpiles at the port dropped 1 percent to 6.98 million tonnes last week, according to data on Jan 10. That is a relatively high level for supplies at this time of year, according to Wu Jie, an analyst at Orient Securities Ltd.
Coal stockpiles remain ample despite freezing weather, Wu said by phone from Shanghai today. The cap on the 2011 contract coal price also curbs the rise of spot prices.
China’s government in Dec ordered a freeze on 2011 contract prices for thermal coal supplies to power stations at 2010 levels, after the nation’s inflation rose to the highest in 28 months in November.
Power-station coal stockpiles stood at 57.07 million tonnes as of Dec. 20, equivalent to 15 days of use. In previous years, supplies at this time of year were equal to about ten days of demand, David Fang, a director at the coal association, said by phone from Beijing on Jan 10.
The decline in prices will be limited because rising global coal costs will support Chinese demand, according to Fang.

News via en.sxcoal.com, 11 Jan, 2011