thermal coal prices are rising to record highs in China, as...

thermal coal prices are rising to record highs in China, as power plants around the country reported coal shortages following the recent snow and freezing weather.

The free-on-board price of thermal coal with calorific value of 5500 Kcal/kg was 780-790 yuan/t on Jan 4, up about 90-100 yuan per tonne compared with that of in Nov 30.

780.00 yuan = 114.212 USD

And coal stocks at main loading ports also continued to drop. As of Dec 28, coal stockpiled in Qinhuangdao port dropped to 5.05 million tonnes, down 29.4% from the beginning of the month, once again down to the warning line of 5 million tonnes.

Qinhuangdao port handled 18.12 million tonnes coal during Dec 1 to Dec 28, up 46.6% from the same period last year.

Experts attributed the rising price to cold weather, which led to bad transportation. While coal consumption is rising, coal supplied to power plants is decreasing sharply, resulting in diminishing stockpiles.

http://en.in-en.com/article/News/Coal/html/2010010615646.html