China’s key power plants held 56Mt coal stocks

Coal stockpiled at China’s key power plants amounted to 55.9 million tonnes as of Feb 8, enough for the use of 16 days.

This was revealed by the National Development and Reform Commission on its website.

Key power plants in Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong, impacted badly by draught, held coal stocks of 2.24 million, 2.33 million, 2.94 million and 5.58 million tonnes respectively, sufficient for the use of 16, 10, 17, and 19 days, the commission said.

Qinhuangdao port, China’s top transferring port of the fuel, had coal stock of 7.73 million tonnes on Feb 8, growing 14 percent from Feb 1, it added.

During the Spring Festival, China’s railway authorities loaded 87,800 rail cars coal each day on average, jumping 8.7 percent on year, of which 47,500 rail cars were power coal, reflecting a year-on-year rise of 19.4 percent, the NDRC said earlier.

Meanwhile, coal transported to main power plants under China Southern Power Grid averaged 367,000 tonnes coal each day, against daily consumption of 311,000 tonnes, the grid operator said on Feb 11.

The coal-fired power plants in five provinces of southern China have 15.05 million tonnes coal in stock, enough for use of 19.2 days on the basis of maximal generating capacity, it added.