Since the beginning of this year, the nation’s coal production and transportation needs to grow rapidly. The storage of coal in major ports and key power plants is basically normal. Except for the tight supply of power coal in certain regions, the balance between supply and demand is overall, and coal prices remain stable.

I. Basic situation of coal operation (1) Production and sales. In January-February, the country’s raw coal output was 516 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 13.5% and sales of 497 million tons, an increase of 7.1% year-on-year. February output was 247 million tons, an increase of 20.1%; sales volume was 230 million tons, an increase of 10.9%.

(b) Transportation. In January-February, the national railway coal transport volume was 363 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. Completed 170 million tons in February, an increase of 9.3%. The main transit port shipped 96.89 million tons of coal, a year-on-year increase of 24.9%. In February, it shipped 47.78 million tons, an increase of 22.6%.

(c) Import and export. In January-February, coal imports were 23.32 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 18.8%; exports were 3.19 million tons, down 7.3%; net imports of coal were 23 million tons. Imports in February were 6.76 million tons, down 47.6% year-on-year; exports 1.76 million tons, up 8.6%.

(d) Inventory. At the end of February, coal mines had an inventory of 46.30 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%; the country's major transit ports stored 24.71 million tons of coal, an increase of 35.9%; key power generation enterprises stored coal of 53.86 million tons, an increase of 9.1%, for 16 days.

(e) Prices. At the end of February, the price of 5,500 kcal quality thermal coal at Qinhuangdao Port was 765-775 yuan per ton, which was an increase of 60 yuan/ton from the same period of last year and a decrease of 20 yuan/ton from the beginning of the year. The coal price of Guangzhou Port was 820-840 yuan/ton, which was a decrease of 20 yuan/ton from the same period of last year and a decrease of 30 yuan/ton from the beginning of the year.

(6) Investment. In January-February, the coal industry completed a fixed asset investment of 13.552 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%, an increase of 11.1 percentage points from the same period of last year.

(vii) Safe Production. In January-February, there were 112 accidents involving coal mining enterprises in the country, a year-on-year decrease of 43 cases, a decrease of 27.7%; the number of deaths was 136, a year-on-year decrease of 126, a decrease of 48.1%.

Second, the main characteristics of the current supply and demand of coal (A) the coal market demand tends to flourish. Due to the rapid economic growth and rapid recovery in the output of major coal-fired products, demand in the coal market has been growing. In January-February, the country’s thermal power generation, crude steel, and cement production all maintained rapid growth. Since March, coal-fired power plants have rapidly picked up, and the average daily coal consumption of major national power plants in the first 24 days is close to the level of the peak coal season in January. Judging from the market coal price, it also showed a trend of rising. On March 24th, Qinhuangdao Port's 5,500 kcal thermal coal market price was 770-780 yuan/ton, which was flat compared with the end of January and was RMB 5/ton higher than that at the end of February.

(II) The coal import and export changes significantly. The decline in coal imports in February was mainly due to the fact that, due to flooding in Australia, the international supply of coal resources was tight. Second, international coal prices continued to rise, and the import enthusiasm of enterprises was inhibited. In addition, coal exports rebounded in February, driven by rising international coal prices and market demand.

Third, the next forecast of the coal market trend With the end of the heating period and hydropower additions, the coal market is expected to show a generally stable level in the coming period. However, due to some uncertainties, imbalances in supply and demand may still occur in some areas.