Coal: China port coal stocks slump on restocking

摘要

Coal stocks at the key Chinese transshipment ports of Qinhuangdao and Caofeidian slumped again last week, as utilities stepped up summer restocking with increasingly tighter supplies. Inventories at Qinhuangdao fell to 4.1mn t on 21 April from 4.48mn t a week earlier, data from coal industry association the CCTD show. The fall at Caofeidian was more acute, with stocks falling to 4.12mn t on 21 April from 4.74mn t a week earlier. The sharp fall in inventories was largely attributed to more utilities stepping up summer restocking for fear of limited supplies, with market expectations that efforts by the country’s main economic planning agency the NDRC to raise domestic output and keep stocks at Qinhuangdao above 5mn t during the high demand summer months are unrealistic.