Moving Coal Market Improvement Coking Coal Continued to Decline

China's coal price index continued to decline in the current period. According to the monitoring data, on April 12, China's coal price index (the national composite index) was 162.3 points, down 0.5 points from the previous period.

Specifically, the Bohai Rim market rose slightly, the power coal market in the producing areas improved, and the price of coking coal fell again. On the port side, the structural shortage of low sulphur coal in Bohai harbor still exists, the quotation of traders is firm, the price of coal in the harbor continues to rebound slightly, but the demand for power in the downstream is flat, and the actual transaction in the harbor is less; the sales of coal mines in the producing areas are stable, although the coal mines have been re-produced one after another, at present, the management departments strictly control the coal management tickets, which makes the market supply less than expected, and the demand for some coal types is good. Prices have risen; although prices have fallen in some areas, the overall market is better than before. Coke market, the current coke market has not significantly improved, downstream coke enterprises are not motivated to purchase, the degree of pressure on coke is not reduced, coal mines to ease sales pressure, prices continue to fall.

It is expected that the price of power coal around Bohai Sea will run smoothly next week. This week, the overhaul of Daqin Line superimposed the power supply problem of Zhangjiakou section, which promoted the spot price of Bohai Rim to rise. However, from the downstream demand point of view, the current procurement demand has not been released, the coastal freight index has begun to fall, the port anchorage ship has not increased significantly, and the port market still presents a weak situation of supply and demand, both rising and falling are facing pressure.

[Bohai Rim Port] As of April 12, the total inventory of the four major ports in the Bohai Rim was 21.19 million tons, a decrease of 530,000 tons compared with last week. Starting from the centralized overhaul of Daqin Line in spring this week, according to the current data, Daqin Line's shipment volume is about 1.1 million tons, and large households'shipment remains stable. On April 9, the Daqin Line was opened slowly due to the power supply problem in Zhangjiakou section, which has a certain impact on shipment. After the holiday, the mood of the coal market is warming up, both coal price and freight price are rising, and some downstream users are pulling the shipment accumulation. Polarity has been slightly improved, but the harbor is more windy, the efficiency of ship operation is reduced, and the port transfer is affected to a certain extent. Overall, the transfer volume of the Bohai Rim Port is still slightly higher than the transfer volume, and inventory continues to decline.

[East China] The price of power coal increased by 5-10 CNY/ton at the same time. After the holidays, the bullish mood in the coal market warmed up and some purchasing demand was released. It is understood that due to the current shortage of high-quality power coal, some ports in eastern China have been rushed out of ultra-low ash coal ships as soon as they arrive.

[North China] In the aspect of coking coal, downstream coking enterprises are bullish on the coking coal market, purchase less and keep low inventory. This situation directly leads to the pressure of coal mine inventory. Many coal mines have continuously lowered prices to attract downstream purchases to ease inventory pressure. In the aspect of power coal, coal prices in North Shanxi have been stable after a small increase in the earlier period, and the purchase price of power plants is on the low side, and some trade is carried out. Merchant ports shipping upside down, procurement enthusiasm has not been significantly improved, insufficient price support; anthracite lump coal is still weak, coal enterprises generally have greater inventory pressure. According to CCTD monitoring data of China Coal Market Network, the price of main coke, fertilizer concentrate and 1/3 coke coal in Linfen and Luliang of Shanxi Province has been reduced by 30-60 CNY/ton, while that of Tangshan of Hebei Province has been reduced by 60 CNY/ton.

[Northeast, Eastern Mongolia] The market is weak, and prices are stable and falling as a whole. 

[Central and South China] The market has not changed much. Power plant units are operating at a low level. The coal intake and consumption of power plants are also at a low level. The coal intake is slightly higher than the coal consumption, and the stock rises slightly. As of April 11, the total coal storage capacity of the power plants in Hubei Province was 3.411 million tons, up 17.4 million tons from last week; as of April 7, the total coal storage capacity of the power plants in Hunan Province was 2.774 million tons, up 65,000 tons from last week.

[Northwest China]Many coal mines in Yulin have raised their prices one after another, and the current market demand has improved. Although several batches of coal mines have resumed production one after another, due to the limitation of coal pipe tickets, in order to ensure the sustainability of production, many coal mines control daily production. With the further increase of downstream demand in late April, if the coal production capacity of Yulin can not be further released, Yulin will be in the near future. The price of forest coal may rise in a new round. In the Ordos region, coal prices are relatively stable as a whole. At present, the demand for civilian use has fallen. The demand for lump coal market is not strong enough. The price of lump coal has fallen by 5-10 yuan. In terms of coking coal, the mainstream coal supply terminal in southwest China has basically returned to normal. With coking coal supply relatively guaranteed, coking enterprises have deliberately reduced their purchases to suppress coal prices. In the near future, coking coal prices may operate under weak pressure.