Coal prices are down! Is the supply sufficient→
Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission has successively issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Coal Market Price Formation Mechanism" and Announcement No. 4 of 2022, which clearly will be implemented on May 1.
In order to ensure that relevant policies are implemented and effective, today, the Price Department of the National Development and Reform Commission convened key coal and power companies, industry associations, the National Coal Trading Center and other institutions to hold special meetings to study and strengthen the regulation and supervision of coal prices.
Domestic coal prices fall, supply remains high
The reporter learned that, affected by factors such as the successive introduction of coal price control measures, the accelerated release of domestic coal production capacity, and the entry of coal consumption into the off-season, at present, domestic coal prices have gradually returned to a reasonable range.
In April, the medium and long-term contract price of 5,500 kcal thermal coal launched in Qinhuangdao Port was 720 yuan/ton, which was the same as that in March. In addition, after entering May, the spot coal price in some ports has fallen.
Li Qunli, head of a domestic coal trading company: At present, the spot transaction price of coal at the port, including the transaction price in the pit mouth, has returned to the range of the national maximum price.
For example, the highest transaction price of 5,000 kcal of coal in the northern port reached 1,650 yuan/ton in mid-March, and now it has returned to about 1,000 yuan, a correction of about 600 yuan/ton.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the raw coal output of enterprises above designated size in the first quarter was about 1.08 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%; among them, the raw coal output of enterprises above designated size in March was 396 million tons, an increase of 14.8% year-on-year, and the average daily output in March was 12.77 million tons. the highest level in history.
Chen Lin, Senior Economist of the Industrial Products Division of the Price Monitoring Center of the National Development and Reform Commission: Coal production has remained at a relatively high level, and the demand for coal in the short term is also relatively low season, which is conducive to reserving some stocks for the peak summer in the later period. Come.
According to the requirements, my country will add 300 million tons of coal production capacity this year, and at the same time, the increase will be further concentrated in the new areas of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Mongolia.
International coal prices remain high, domestic coal price regulation to ensure energy security
Affected by the situation in Russia and Ukraine, international coal prices rose sharply.
How to stabilize the domestic market and ensure national energy security through reasonable regulation?
Since the beginning of this year, international coal prices have risen sharply.
The export guide price of Indonesia's thermal coal in April was US$288.4/ton, an increase of 41.6% from March and a year-on-year increase of 232.7%; this also indirectly affects the domestic market price.
Li Qunli, head of a domestic coal trading company: The cost of importing coal to China is too high, and the amount may be reduced. From the perspective of demand, the demand for peak summer is definitely better than it is now, but we also need to look at the resumption of work and production. some situations.
In order to stabilize the coal market price, various departments are implementing the full coverage of medium and long-term thermal coal contracts in 2022, that is, contracts signed by users such as coal companies and power companies with a term of one year or more.
Meng Hai, Deputy General Manager of the Index Department of the National Coal Trading Center: Now the medium and long-term coal contracts have achieved full coverage in thermal coal and 80% of the entire coal resource side. The entire medium and long-term contracts have become China's coal supply and demand. the basic disk.
At present, my country's coal self-sufficiency rate has reached 93%, and the National Development and Reform Commission has also clarified the reasonable price range for medium and long-term coal contracts and the standards for determining the behavior of coal operators to drive up prices, so as to guide coal prices to operate within a reasonable range.
Meng Hai, Deputy General Manager of the Index Department of the National Coal Trading Center: Before, we mentioned more about the price guidance of medium and long-term contracts, and the upper and lower range management and expectation guidance of medium and long-term contracts. This time, the spot price is expected to be guided, so that The two blocks are unified and connected, which is more conducive to the formation of a unified market to maintain national energy security.