China’s state planner said that it expects a coal supply crunch to ease and coal prices to fall in July, according to a report from the official Xinhua news agency on Sunday.
“With the growth of hydropower and solar power generation in the summer, as well as the increase in coal production and imports, the contradiction between coal supply and demand will tend to ease,” said the National Development and Reform Commission, according to the report.
“It is expected that coal prices will enter a downward channel in July, and prices will drop significantly.”
China’s state planner and market regulator earlier in June jointly launched an investigation into coal prices, saying they would crack down on speculation and hoarding.
China also plans to release more thermal coal from its reserve to ensure market supply ahead of summer peak demand, although the amount was not disclosed, according to the report.
The state planner has said it plans to build up around 100 million tons of deployable coal reserves in the country in 2021.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Gabriel Crossley and Muyu Xu; Editing by William Mallard)