China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has banned Shaanxi-based Yulin Coal Trading Centre Corp from publishing “untrue” pricing information, the state planner said this week. The company is also prohibited from collecting, editing, and publishing coal market news and information on any channel. Two WeChat accounts managed by Yuling were also shut down by the authorities.
The move is part of Beijing’s efforts to regulate commodities markets and tame volatile prices. The country previously issued guidelines to manage commodity and service price indexes as coal prices hovered near record highs. Under the guidelines, regulators can suspend the activities of any price providers who fail to adhere to certain rules.
Established in 2009, Yulin Coal Trading Centre Corp mostly participated in physical coal trading. Before the ban, it published daily spot coal prices for Yulin city and neighbouring regions. The city contributes to 13% of China’s total coal output. Other coal index providers have stopped publishing their prices recently.
