China's coal imports show signs of rising

“Although traditional coal is in the off-season, domestic coal prices have risen very sharply and our customers have begun to import foreign coal supplemental demand.” Liu Bo, trade manager of coal import trader Century Phoenix International Trading Co., Ltd., told the “Economy” Reference newspaper reporter.

The reporter recently confirmed from an authoritative channel and a number of coal traders that, in the context of the recent sharp rise in domestic coal prices and the abrupt coal outages of a considerable number of coal-fired power units, many power plants began to increase the amount of imported coal overseas. Industry experts pointed out that re-increase of overseas coal resources with low import prices means that the game of interests between coal and power companies, which has been exacerbated by the power shortage, has entered a period of enthusiasm.

Since China became a net importer of coal for the first time in 2009, many power plants have adopted imported overseas coal as an important means of competing with domestic coal prices. However, at the end of 2010, the world's major coal producing area in Queensland, Australia, was hit by floods, and coal production and exports were severely hampered. The coal price in the Asia-Pacific market rose rapidly, and the price of some coal species was already higher than that in China.

Wang Siqiang, deputy director of the Comprehensive Division of the National Energy Administration, also reminded at the press conference on the energy economy in the first quarter that “at present, domestic coal prices have exceeded 100 yuan per ton, and China’s coal imports will be affected.”

However, with the continuous rise in Qinhuangdao coal price with the national coal price benchmark, the spread of coal prices at home and abroad has gradually narrowed. The reporter learned from Qinhuangdao Coal Network that the average price of thermal coal in the Bohai Rim has increased for eight consecutive weeks, rising to 820. Yuan/ton, an increase of 6.91%, has set a record high since the establishment of the price system in September 2010.

From the end of the coal industry, it seems that there is no sign of a decrease in coal prices in the short term. A deputy general manager of a large-scale coal enterprise with an annual output of 50 million tons told the Economic Information Daily that the cost of coal production including steel, cement, and workers’ wages has also increased recently. From the perspective of demand, it is unlikely that domestic coal prices will fall in the short term.

At the same time, the executive said that the increase in coal prices led to the current tight supply and demand is not objective, "the power plant is also through various means and coal companies game, for example, many power companies began to limit the purchase of coal in the domestic market, such as the import of overseas coal." Said that even in the context of tight power supply, the five major power generation groups still limit the purchase of coal exceeding 200-300 yuan of contract coal to reduce costs.

The reporter learned from insiders of the Qinhuangdao Port Co., Ltd. that the South China Power Plant has recently experienced a phenomenon that coal deposits are in an emergency. Many coal-fired power plants have fallen within 10 days. The decline in international coal prices during the power shortage period has also given rise to the possibility of many coal-fired power plants caught up in the country from importing coal overseas. According to Platts, as of May 13, the FOB price of 6,300 kcal/kg thermal coal in Newcastle, Australia, has fallen from US$133/tonne in March to US$117/tonne.

Xu Xu believes that China's coal import enthusiasm is not high in the first quarter of this year. However, since the second quarter, the supply of electricity in many areas in China has become tight, which may stimulate the recovery of China's coal imports in the later period. In addition, since late March, China's Bohai Bo thermal coal has risen for eight consecutive weeks, and domestic and international coal price spreads are gradually shrinking, which also creates favorable conditions for China's coal traders to import and restart enthusiastically.

Xu Xu judged that international coal prices may continue to fluctuate and increase throughout the year. However, due to the tight domestic coal supply situation compared with last year, domestic coal prices are expected to continue to rise, domestic and international coal price gaps will gradually shrink, and even domestic prices may rise. At international prices.

Xing Lei, a professor at the China Coal Economic Research Institute of Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with a reporter from the Economic Information Daily that it is normal for the power plant to search for coal with lower prices overseas, but this time it will import overseas coal during the power shortage period. In terms of quantity and price, it more reflects the game between power plants and coal companies.

“Since the current international coal price is still higher than the domestic coal price, plus Shanghai freight, it is not much cheaper than overseas coal. Not to mention the fact that China’s power plants have always been able to solve the urgent needs of the power plant in the short term and cannot be effective. To supplement the power plant inventory, it can only be said that the interests of the coal and electricity players have entered a white-hot stage, said Xing Lei.