Coal news and updates

China coastal coal freight rates drop at slow pace

Freight rates for vessels shipping coal from north China ports to the south have been falling for more than 20 days, albeit at a slow pace recently, as coal demand from utilities remained weak amid cooler-than-expected weather.

The shipping rate for vessels of 50,000-60,000 DWT from Qinhuangdao to Guangzhou port stood at 25.9 yuan/t on August 18, down 0.3 yuan/t on day and down 1.4 yuan/t from a week ago, showed data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

The rate for smaller vessels of 15,000-20,000 DWT from Qinhuangdao to Ningbo port in eastern China's Zhejiang province was 23.8 yuan/t on the same day, unchanged on day but down 0.4 yuan/t on week.

The rate for 30,000-40,000 DWT vessels to ship coal from Huanghua to Shanghai port edged down 0.1 on day and fell 0.7 yuan/t on week to 20.9 yuan/t on the same day.

Shipping sources said the current freight has almost dropped to the cost level, which may have limited space to fall further.

Coal buying interests from downstream utilities remained weak, despite increased shipment at major northern ports.

The volume of coal shipped out of Qinhuangdao port rose 2.84% on week to 0.67 million tonnes on average each day over the week ended August 19, while daily inbound coal railings averaged 0.65 million tonnes during the same period, up 7.6% on week.

Daily coal consumption at power plants under the six coastal utilities stood at 0.59 million tonnes on August 19, down 6.9% from a week ago, which was enough to cover 21.8 days of consumption, up from 20.1 days a week ago.

source: http://en.sxcoal.com