Coal prices soared and approached US$140 per tonne, with supply\nconcerns serving as the primary trigger. According to Refinitiv, coal\nprices closed at US$139.3 per tonne in trading on Monday (24\/8\/2026), up\n0.76%. This increase extended the positive trend for coal prices, which\nhave strengthened by 4.3% over six consecutive days. The surge in coal\nprices was mainly caused by supply worries.<\/p>\n
Coking coal prices in China\u2019s main production areas continued to rise\nlast week and hit a new high. Strict inspections in Shanxi have slowed\nthe recovery of mine production and kept supply tight, while demand from\ndownstream sectors continued to strengthen. The price increase was also\nsupported by continuously strengthening futures contracts and market\nexpectations of higher coking coal prices. Market sentiment grew\nincreasingly heated. During the week, coking coal prices rose by\nCNY100-250 per tonne, while some premium primary coking coal types even\nrecorded increases of up to CNY330 per tonne.<\/p>\n
Production recovery at previously halted mines in Shanxi remains\nslow. Several mines have even cut production due to inspections and\nother factors. Some mines in Shanxi also experienced temporary stoppages\ndue to accidents and other conditions in production areas. These\nconditions overall caused regional coking coal supply to decline\nslightly.<\/p>\n
Raw coking coal production from 363 mines surveyed by Sxcoal fell\n0.34% week-on-week to 9.98 million tonnes in the week ending 17 August.\nProcessed coking coal production fell 0.76% to 4.89 million tonnes.\nAverage mine capacity utilisation reached 69.44%, down 0.24 percentage\npoints in a week. On the demand side, operating rates at coke plants\nfell again due to losses and tight coking coal supply. Several plants\nstill have sufficient inventory to operate, but fresh coal supply is\nincreasingly limited. As of 19 August, coking coal inventories at 108\nsurveyed coke plants were estimated to be sufficient for around 7.27\ndays of requirements, up 0.3 days compared with the previous week. Coke\nplants and trading companies in the midstream sector showed high\npurchasing interest.<\/p>\n
Production areas continued destocking, while most mines held no\ninventory. Sxcoal data showed raw coking coal stocks at surveyed mines\nreached 1.42 million tonnes on 19 August, down 11.33% compared with a\nweek earlier. Meanwhile, processed coking coal stocks fell 13.07% to\n1.37 million tonnes.<\/p>\n
Coal prices rose past US$131 per tonne at the end of August 2026,\nreaching their highest level in about three weeks or since early August.\nThe increase was driven by strong Asian energy demand, coal supply risks\nstill looming over the market, and China\u2019s latest stimulus signals,\nwhich could potentially boost domestic demand and accelerate\ninfrastructure investment. If China\u2019s economic activity recovers more\nstrongly, electricity consumption and power generation could also\nincrease, supporting coal demand.<\/p>\n
Japanese electricity prices surged to their highest level since 2023\ndue to a heatwave. This increased air-conditioning needs and could\npotentially boost coal-fired power generation. Mongolia also reported\nlower output. Mongolia\u2019s coal production for all uses in July reached\n11.17 million tonnes, down 4.6% from June\u2019s 11.71 million tonnes.\nHowever, the figure jumped 49% year-on-year. The monthly production\ndecline was likely influenced by the Naadam Festival holiday on 11-15\nJuly. The five-day national holiday likely slowed Mongolian coal\nproduction activity. By type, hard coal production, which includes\ncoking coal and thermal coal, reached 10.23 million tonnes. This was\ndown 6.9% from June but still up 48% year-on-year. Meanwhile, lignite\nproduction reached around 946,000 tonnes, up 30% month-on-month and 63%\nyear-on-year.<\/p>\n
Mongolia\u2019s cumulative coal production for all uses during\nJanuary-July reached 73.65 million tonnes, surging 52% year-on-year. All\nof that growth came from hard coal production. Hard coal production\nduring the first seven months reached 67.66 million tonnes, up 60%\nyear-on-year. In contrast, lignite production fell 4.7% year-on-year to\n5.99 million tonnes. Mongolia is a major supplier to China; if\nproduction falls, China could be affected.<\/p>\n
Water levels on the Rhine River in Germany last week were at their\nlowest since records began in 1880. This triggered concerns about\nreplenishing coal stocks at coal-fired power plants, amid an electricity\nsystem already under tight conditions.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/coal-surges-for-six-days-as-china-and-germany-face-supply-crises-1787626252", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }