Coal inventory in major Chinese ports facing oversupply

 SHIJIAZHUANG, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Coal inventories¹ in Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Huanghua, China's major coal ports, have reached record highs in recent days, sparking safety concerns for the Chinese energy market.

According to the latest figures, coal supplies among the three ports totaled 18.3 million tonnes on June 30, or 8.6, 8.4 and 1.3 million tonnes, respectively.

Qinhuangdao Port, located in north China's Hebei province, is the world's largest coal loading port, and it handles half of China's coal needs.

On June 25, the coal inventory² in storage at Qinhuangdao totaled 9.08 million tonnes, while the designed volume for pile is 10.18 million tonnes.

The pile at Qinhuangdao was started in May. On June 18, coal inventories at this port hit 9.46 tonnes, the highest level since November 2008, according to official statistics.

At the port of Tangshan, which is also strategically located in Hebei in order to transport coal from northern to southern China, the coal inventory on June 25 totaled 8.1 million tonnes, just shy of the maximum volume of 8.7 million tonnes.

"China's coal stocks are estimated at about 300 million tonnes, equivalent to the entire country's coal consumption in one month," said Li Xin, a senior official with the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association.

Industry insiders say that the slowdown in domestic economic growth reduced demand for thermal³ coal in China, which was caused by overcapacity in coal's downstream industries, including the steel, cement, electricity and real estate industries.

Moreover, China imported 86.55 million tonnes of coal in the first four months, up nearly 70 percent year on year.

"The increase of imported coal affected⁴ the price of domestic coal, as well as the domestic coal market," said Song Xinting, vice⁵ president of the Coal Transportation and Distribution Association of Hebei province.

According to statistics from the National Energy Administration, China's power consumption in the first five months of this year was 1.96 trillion kilowatt⁶ hours, up 5.8 percent year on year, but the growth rate fell 6.2 percentage points from the same period of last year.

As the southern parts of China have seen plentiful⁷ rainfall this year, hydropower generation output has increased. Meanwhile, in the eastern areas of China, natural gas has been used for generating electricity this year, another factor trimming thermal coal demand, Song added.

Due to these factors, the price of 5,500 Kcal thermal coal, part of the Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index, dropped to 729 yuan (115 U.S. dollars) on June 25, resulting in the biggest weekly decrease since the index was launched.

In light of slowing economic growth and waning⁸ coal demand, a slowdown trend for coal supply and demand in the third quarter, or the second half of this year, will continue, industry insiders say.

Although thermal coal demand will increase over the peak power consumption period that runs from July to August, the massive coal inventories in power plants and ports won't change, industry insiders say.

So far, there has been no concrete action to cope with the problem.

Coal industry associations at all levels are currently urging relevant enterprises to reach consensus⁹, work together, strengthen industrial self-discipline and avoid vicious competition.

1 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

2 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

3 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 kilowatt   

n.千瓦

参考例句：

• They pay thirty fen per kilowatt hour.他们每度电付三角钱。
• The watt is a small unit of power so that we use the kilowatt instead.瓦特是小功率的单位，因此我们用千瓦代之。

7 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

8 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？