The National Development and Reform Commission announced on Thursday that more than 10 million tons of coal would be released from the country’s strategic reserves to ensure supply availability in the market. The release would come from dozens of reserve hubs and key ports across the country, the state planner said. Following the announcement, the benchmark thermal coal futures retreated 3.8%. Spot prices had climbed to as high as CNY995 ($153.89) per ton before the announcement.
China had previously released coal from state reserves four times this year as the country battled against soaring raw material prices. The four previous releases totalled more than 5 million tons, meaning that the latest release would be the largest of all so far this year. In April, the NDRC urged power plants, coal miners, and transport hubs to rebuild coal inventories as it expected tight supplies and surging demand.
The agency also pledged to boost its coal stocks to more than 120 million tons as reserves in 2021. China’s coal reserves now stood at 40 million tons, according to a Reuters report. In June, the country’s coal imports rose to the highest level so far in 2021.
China’s electricity consumption is soaring due to higher air-conditioning usage amid hotter-than-usual summer. China’s power usage rose 9.8% year-on-year to 703.3 billion kWh in June, while usage in the first half of July jumped 16.2%. The State Grid estimated that national electricity consumption would increase by 12% year-on-year this month.
