Coal Prices Ease as China and India Sentiment Pull in Opposite Directions
Coal prices eased after surging for two consecutive days.
According to Refinitiv, coal closed at US$153.60 a tonne on Monday (26 October 2026), down 0.9%.
The decline ended a two-day positive run.
Weaker oil prices and news from China drove coal lower. Supply concerns in India, however, limited further losses.
Sentiment in China’s northern coal market has become increasingly pessimistic amid the prospect of higher supply.
Autumn maintenance on the Daqin railway line is expected to end soon, allowing coal shipments to return to normal. The recovery in distribution, alongside the government’s supply-security policy, has also added pressure to the market.
Meanwhile, mine-mouth prices for thermal coal in several of China’s major producing regions have fallen again.
The decline was prompted by major mining companies cutting their selling prices, while buyers held back from transactions and were not yet actively replenishing stocks.
The combination of greater potential supply and weak demand has kept China’s domestic coal market on a downward trend.
China’s expansion of renewable energy has pushed coal-fired power’s share below 50% of the country’s total electricity generation for the first time. At the same time, Beijing is seeking to expand climate-adaptation trials to 39 cities ahead of next month’s United Nations climate conference.
Coal-fired power accounted for 49.7% of China’s total electricity generation in the first half of 2026, according to the country’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s annual report on climate policy.
By the end of July, installed solar capacity had exceeded that of coal-fired power plants, making solar the energy source with the largest installed generation capacity in China.
India’s electricity supply remains critical
Nearly half of India’s power plants are still short of coal stocks. As of 25 October 2026, 85 of the country’s 176 domestic coal-fired power plants were classified as having critically low stocks.
Coal inventories were also reported to be continuing to shrink. Stocks at domestic coal-fired plants fell to 17.67 million tonnes on Sunday, from 18 million tonnes on 16 October.
India also reported shortages at plants using imported coal. Seven of the 15 such plants had critically low stocks, with inventories falling to 2.26 million tonnes from 2.42 million tonnes.
As of 10 October, coal stocks were sufficient for only about six days of demand, below the standard inventory level of around 19 to 20 days.
India is stepping up supply efforts to ease the shortage. However, an accident occurred at a coal mine as production was being ramped up.
Rescue operations are under way at the underground Kumardihi A coal mine in West Bengal, India, after several workers became trapped about 50 metres underground on Monday following a technical fault in the hoisting system.
Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) Chairman and Managing Director Satish Jha said the hoisting rope had come off the pulley drum, bringing the mine lift to a halt. He confirmed there had been no fatalities and that the workers had received food and water.
Communication with the workers is being maintained, and ventilation at the mine is reported to be functioning adequately. ECL teams are still repairing the hoisting system to evacuate the workers safely, with support from police and local officials.