Our reporter Li Chunlian
Trainee reporter He Wangjuan
Recently, the international market has been frantically "grabbing coal", causing the entire coal industry to fall into a panic of "coal shortage".
Affected by this, the international coal price is running at a high level, and the price of imported coal is higher than that of domestic coal.
"Currently, the relative inventory of coal in power plants is not high." An energy industry analyst at a securities firm told the "Securities Daily" reporter that although the market supply has improved, the increase in the supply of high calorific value coal is limited.
In addition, the substantial decline in the quantity of imported coal also affected the domestic coal market supply.
With the approaching peak of coal consumption in summer, it is imperative to increase the supply of coal.
Yang Jie, a researcher at the Yimei Research Institute, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the peak coal season is coming, and the demand for restocking of power plants will still exist under the gap of imported coal. , will effectively maintain the coal market price order.
The performance of many coal power companies is under pressure
Due to the shortage of coal resources, many countries have staged crazy "coal grabbing" dramas this year, especially since March.
International coal prices have jumped for two consecutive weeks and are approaching historical highs. This has also affected my country's coal imports. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that from January to March this year, my country imported 51.81 million tons of coal, a year-on-year decrease of 24.2%.
"The reduction of imported coal has a greater impact on coastal areas. Power plants cannot afford excessive import prices, and the inventory accumulation of coastal power plants is lower than that in inland areas." Talking about the impact of the decline in coal imports, Yang Jie told reporters, Some coastal provinces signed a long-term coal import agreement to help power plants tide over the difficulties.
Su Jia, an analyst at Zhongyu Information, said that due to the high international coal price and the weakening of imported coal price advantages, domestic end users are not very motivated to purchase imported coal, and the coal import volume has decreased significantly year-on-year, which has weakened the supplementary role of domestic supply.
A reporter from Securities Daily called Datang Power as an investor, and the relevant staff said, "Changes in the international market have led to high prices of imported coal overseas, but due to the domestic supply guarantee policy, the price of coal in the domestic market will be higher than that of imported coal, so We are buying more domestic coal and less imported coal.”
On April 25, the "National Electricity Supply and Demand Situation Analysis and Forecast Report for the First Quarter of 2022" released by the China Electricity Council showed that the overall price of thermal coal has continued to rise since the beginning of this year, resulting in a year-on-year year-on-year increase in the procurement cost of thermal coal for coal and power enterprises across the country in the first quarter. An additional increase of about 130 billion yuan.
The sharp rise in fuel costs is far higher than the increase in the price of electricity sold by coal power companies, resulting in more than half of the coal power companies in large power generation groups still losing money.
It can also be seen from the first quarterly report data released by listed companies that the high coal price is still the main reason for the loss of power companies.
On April 27, Huaneng International released its performance report for the first quarter of 2022. During the reporting period, the company’s net profit attributable to the parent company was 960 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 129.96%.
In addition, due to rising coal prices, the company's operating costs in the first quarter increased by 51.07% year-on-year.
Yuneng Holdings also revealed in its first quarterly report of 2022 that due to the high coal price, the company's operating costs in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 62.70% year-on-year, and the net profit attributable to the parent was 460 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 671.11%.
Yang Jie told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "Coal prices have risen by up to 112% since the beginning of this year, because inland power plants have increased the number of days available for inventory under policy requirements, and coal demand has surged. The cold wave that began in February has driven daily consumption to hit a record high in recent years. A new high for the same period. In addition, factors such as geopolitical conflicts have also contributed to the increase in energy prices.”
Regarding the market outlook, the aforementioned brokerage analysts said that the follow-up resumption of work and production and the arrival of the peak season for residential electricity consumption, if the inventory cannot be replenished in time to maintain a high level, then the coal price may still rise.
And as the international coal market "grabbing for coal" intensifies, the high overseas coal price will also inhibit my country's demand for imported coal and reduce the supply of coal in the coal market.
The new long-term agreement price regulation will be implemented soon
With the reduction of imported coal and the imminent peak of coal consumption, ensuring coal supply and stabilizing the coal market is the focus of all parties.
On April 26, the central bank said it would increase 100 billion yuan in refinancing to support the development and use of coal and enhance energy storage.
In this regard, Yang Jie said that the current main task of the coal industry is to increase production capacity. The establishment of coal reserves, including coal mine silos and coal storage bases, requires the help of funds. The above policies reflect the support for the guaranteed supply of coal energy.
In fact, in order to do a good job in ensuring the supply and price of coal, relevant departments have introduced a number of measures.
In terms of ensuring supply, the recently held executive meeting of the State Council pointed out that coal should be used as the main energy source.
Work together to optimize the approval policies for coal production and project construction, implement local responsibilities for stabilizing production and ensuring supply, and fully release advanced production capacity.
Through nuclear capacity increase, expansion, new production, etc., this year's new coal production capacity will be 300 million tons.
In terms of price stabilization, recently, the National Development and Reform Commission has made special arrangements to guide and urge enterprises to strictly implement the requirements for signing and performance of medium and long-term coal contracts, and take practical measures to ensure that medium and long-term coal transaction prices operate within a reasonable range.
At the same time, cooperate with the market supervision department to promptly investigate and deal with illegal and illegal behaviors such as fabrication and dissemination of price increase information, price gouging, and price collusion by market entities, closely monitor the coal market and price operation, strengthen the regulation and supervision of coal market prices, and ensure the safe and stable supply of energy.
According to the "Notice on Further Improving the Coal Market Price Formation Mechanism" previously issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the reasonable range of the medium and long-term transaction price of coal (thermal coal) (hereinafter referred to as the "long-term agreement price") has been clarified. Implemented from the 1st of the month.
In this regard, Yang Jie said that within the long-term agreement price range, both coal and electricity parties can maintain normal operations, especially to alleviate the current dilemma of high power plant costs.
However, the implementation of the long-term agreement after the implementation of the regulations is extremely critical.
(Securities Daily)