China’s November Coal Prices Gain as Much as 4.1% From October
China’s prices for power station coal rose by as much as 4.1 percent in November from the previous month, increasing fuel costs for electricity producers in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
The price of thermal coal climbed as much as 20 yuan to between 500 yuan ($69) and 510 yuan a metric ton at the end of November at Qinhuangdao, China’s largest coal port, the Beijing-based National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement posted on its Web site. Average coal prices and transportation costs both gained as demand increased, it said.
Power companies burn the fuel to generate 78 percent of the electricity produced in China, the world’s largest miner and consumer of coal. The government controls power prices to limit their impact on inflation and last allowed utilities to raise tariffs in June 2006.
Prices of high-grade coal used in power generation rose to between 670 yuan and 680 yuan a ton at the southern port of Guangzhou at the end of November, a gain of as much as 15 yuan a ton from October’s level, the commission said.
Prices of coal at the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo in the east increased to between 615 yuan and 625 yuan a ton, it said.
China’s raw coal production rose 8.5 percent in November to 235.87 million tons, the commission said in the statement.
Tags: power