According to the wise finance and economics APP, on June 25th, the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association stated that since May, coal enterprises have solidly ensured stable production and supply of coal while ensuring safety, and have lawfully and properly released coal production capacity. The national coal production is generally at a high level, while the macroeconomic situation of our country continues to recover and improve. The production and operation of the main coal-consuming industries are basically normal, and the seasonal demand for coal is weak. The growth rate of coal consumption has significantly slowed down. Coal imports continue to grow rapidly, and the supply and demand situation of the coal market is relatively stable, with narrow fluctuations in coal prices.

(I) Maintaining a relatively high coal production level.

In May, coal enterprises strengthened organization and coordination and safety production, steadily released high-quality coal production capacity through multiple measures to promote stable production and increased production. The national coal production volume decreased slightly year-on-year, and the rate of decline continued to narrow. The production volume turned from a decline to an increase. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the industrial raw coal production of scale above reached 380 million tons in May, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%, narrowing by 2.1 percentage points compared with April; the average daily output was 12.38 million tons, basically unchanged from April; the industrial raw coal production of scale above from January to May in our country reached 1.86 billion tons, a decrease by 57 million tons or 3.0% year on year. The decline narrowed by 0.5 percentage points compared with January to April.

In the first five months, the coal production in China reached the second highest level in the same period in history. The coal production in May basically reached the highest level in history, and coal production remained relatively high. For key provinces and regions, from January to May, the output of raw coal of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang of scale above reached 530 million tons, 470 million tons, 310 million tons, and 200 million tons, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%, a decrease of 15.0%, an increase of 1.4%, and an increase of 6.6%. Data shows that the average daily coal production of key monitoring coal enterprises in mid-to-late June increased by 0.8% from last month and increased by 4.5% year-on-year, and it is expected that the year-on-year decline in China's raw coal production in June will continue to narrow.

(II) The coal railway transportation volume turned from a decline to an increase.

In May, the national railway coal transportation volume was 230 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%, of which the electricity coal transportation volume was 210 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. From January to May, the cumulative coal transportation volume of the national railway reached 1.17 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%, of which the cumulative electricity coal transportation volume was 970 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5%.

(III) Coal imports continue to grow rapidly.

In May, China imported 43.82 million tons of coal, a year-on-year increase of 10.7% and a month-on-month decrease of 3.2%; it exported 310,000 tons of coal, a year-on-year decrease of 16.2% and a month-on-month decrease of 43.6%. The net coal import volume of coal that month was 43.51 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 10.9% and a month-on-month decrease of 2.7%. From January to May, China imported 204.97 million tons of coal, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%, and the import volume in the first five months reached a new high in the same period in history. The exported coal was 2.25 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 40.3%.

According to coal species, from January to May, China imported 81.11 million tons of power coal (excluding lignite), a year-on-year increase of 23.3%; imported 70.68 million tons of lignite, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%; imported 47.49 million tons of coking coal, a year-on-year increase of 27.0%; and imported 569,000 tons of anthracite, a year-on-year decrease of 25.8%. From the country of origin, from January to May, China imported 91.09 million tons of coal from Indonesia, a year-on-year decrease of 5.2%; imported 36 million tons of coal from Russia, a year-on-year decrease of 11.6%; imported 31.4 million tons of coal from Mongolia, a year-on-year increase of 30.9%; and imported 29.76 million tons of coal from Australia, a year-on-year increase of 153.7%.

(IV) The coal consumption growth rate has significantly slowed down.

In May, the operation of the coal and electricity, steel, and building materials industries was not ideal, which led to a decline in coal consumption. China's macroeconomic situation is recovering and improving, and the production and operation of industrial enterprises are recovering and developing. The total social electricity consumption increased by 7.2% year-on-year, and the demand for electricity continued to grow rapidly. The hydropower output continued to improve, new energy power generation increased rapidly, thermal power played a sufficient role in bottom protection, and the electricity generation of thermal power decreased by 4.3% year-on-year, and the seasonal demand for coal was weak, and the consumption of coal for electricity decreased year-on-year. The operation of the steel and building materials markets has improved, but is still weak. The output of pig iron and cement of enterprises above the designated scale decreased year-on-year by 1.2% and 8.2%, respectively, and the coal consumption of the steel and building materials industries decreased year-on-year. The coal chemical industry maintained a high production load, high consumption coal product production grew rapidly, among which nitrogen fertilizer and methanol production increased by 9.8% and 10.6% year-on-year, respectively, driving the coal consumption in the chemical industry to increase year-on-year.

Overall, in May, China's consumption of commodity coal decreased slightly compared to the same period last year, and the increase in consumption from January to May was slightly higher with a slowdown in the growth rate. Since June, the high-temperature range across China has expanded, and the hydroelectric output continues to improve. New energy generation has grown rapidly and thermal power generation has increased month-on-month. In the first half of June, thermal power generation declined rapidly year-on-year, but increased steadily month-on-month. Overall, the daily coal consumption of thermal power plants across the country increased rapidly. It is determined that the national consumption of coal will increase in June.

(V) The transfer of coal inventory to the middle and lower reaches of the market.

At the end of May, Chinese coal enterprises had 60 million tons of coal in stock, a decrease of 8.6% and 21.9% YoY respectively compared to the end of April, with key monitored coal enterprises having 24.09 million tons of coal in stock, a decrease of 2.7% and 20.8% YoY respectively compared to the end of April. Thermal power plants had approximately 190 million tons of coal in stock, an increase of approximately 10 million tons and 7 million tons YoY respectively compared to the end of April, with an available amount of approximately 35 days. China's major ports held 66.68 million tons of coal in stock, a 9.3% increase and a 12.6% YoY decrease compared to the end of April, with the major ports in Bohai Sea area holding 25.6 million tons of coal in stock, a 6.1% increase and a 15.9% YoY decrease compared to the end of April. As of June 20, the stock of monitored coal enterprises increased by 5.2% compared to the end of the previous month but decreased by 16.7% YoY, the stock of national thermal power plants increased by 2.5% compared to the end of the previous month but decreased by 0.5% YoY, and the stock of major ports in the Bohai Sea area increased by 6.9% compared to the end of the previous month and increased by 3.4% YoY. It is determined that the overall national coal inventory will increase month-on-month in June, and the overall coal supply and demand relationship is relatively balanced.

(VI) Coal market prices are mainly stable with narrow fluctuations.

In May, the domestic coal market prices fluctuated narrowly. At the end of May, the spot price of 5500 kcal thermal coal at the Bohai Sea port was around 880 yuan/ton, an increase of 50 yuan/ton and 110 yuan/ton YoY respectively compared to the end of April, and the comprehensive price of Shanxi coke and fertilizer coal was 1985 yuan/ton, a decrease of 15 yuan/ton and an increase of 365 yuan/ton YoY respectively compared to the end of April. Since June, domestic coal market prices have been weakly declining. As of June 20, the spot price of 5500 kcal thermal coal at the Bohai Sea port was around 870 yuan/ton, a decrease of 10 yuan/ton and an increase of 50 yuan/ton YoY respectively compared to the end of May, and the comprehensive price of Shanxi coke and fertilizer coal was 1915 yuan/ton, a decrease of 70 yuan/ton and an increase of 250 yuan/ton YoY respectively compared to the end of May. The comprehensive trading price (closing price) of 5500 kcal/kg thermal coal at Qinhuangdao Port rose by 7 yuan/ton at the end of May compared to the end of April, and rose by 2 yuan/ton in mid-June compared to the end of May, with the market situation remaining generally stable.