China goes supersize
Benchmark spot coal prices at Qinhuangdao – which handles around half of Chinas coal – recently rose by about 3% a tonne in just a few days, bringing prices up to a level not seen in a year.
The state-owned port itself has five coal terminals and a coal throughput of around 176m tonnes – part of which is internal shipment from northern mines to the southern coastal towns.
Interestingly, the Chinese government clearly thinks bigger is better (at least in a crisis) and in the uncertainty of last summer pooled Qinhuangdao’s resources with Caofeidian and Huangye ports to create the world’s biggest bulk cargo port company – at least in weight.
However, the recent flurry was due to a number of factors. Winter snows combined with a sad side-effect of the state’s energy policy – Chinese mines have suffered from safety issues and in the wake of the latest disaster, stricter controls have lowered output, swinging up the imported coal balance.
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