November 13, 2021 - China’s daily coal output hit a record of 12.05 million tonnes on Nov 10, up 120,000 tonnes over the previous peak, as miners obeyed Beijing’s order to boost production in a bid to cool prices, the powerful state planner said.

Thermal coal stocks at key power plants stood at 123 million tonnes, sufficient for 21 days of use, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its official Wechat account on Thursday.

Coal inventories at top northern ports reached 24 million tonnes, up a fifth, or 4 million tonnes above levels at the start of the month.

This included 5.65 million tonnes at the top coal port of Qinhuangdao in the northern province of Hebei, or an increase of 600,000 tonnes from the start of November.

China’s thermal coal futures were down 3.3per cent at 867 yuan per tonne by 0330 GMT on Friday, steadying this week in the vicinity of 900 yuan after having nosedived more than half since mid-October.

That fall followed Beijing’s tough measures aimed at easing a power crunch.