[Ferro-Alloys.com] The China Coal Price Index (CCPI), a composite index tracking coal prices in China, dropped 0.8 points to 169.9 points in the week till September 14, according to the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association.

 

During last week, China's coal demand subsided as power plants consumed less coal and the thermal coal market saw thin trading.

 

In August, China's major power plants consumed 3.468 million tonnes of coal per day, down 91,000 tonnes from July daily coal consumption and decreasing 14.2% or 573,000 tonnes in comparison with that in August last year, according to statistics from the China Zhongneng Power Industry Fuel Co. Ltd.

 

Last week, thermal coal prices in northern ports and Inner Mongolia picked up slightly, but continued to fall in other regions. Some types of thermal coal at major sea ports along northern China's Bohai Sea rim, including Qinhuangdao Port, Jingtang Port, Caofeidian Port and Tianjin Port edged higher by RMB5-10 per tonne from a wee earlier. In Ordos, Inner Mongolia, there was a rise of RMB10-20 per tonne for some high quality thermal coal.

 

In Shandong's Jining, Zaozhuang and Zibo, some thermal coal witnessed a fall of 2RMB0-50 per tonne and the price drop was even worse for some low quality thermal coal in Anhui's Huainan and Tongling, RMB40-90  per tonne lower than the prior week.