China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association: In early July, key monitored enterprises saw a decrease in coal supply, and the process of reducing coal inventory in coal companies has accelerated.

The China Coal Transport and Distribution Association released the Coal Market Dispatch Biweekly Report. In early July, due to the frequent rainy weather, the monitored coal supply of key enterprises decreased slightly. The destocking process of coal enterprises accelerated, while downstream users continued to be cautious in their purchases, mainly focusing on rigid demand and long-term coal procurement. As a result, both coal production and sales have shown varying degrees of decline. Looking at demand by industry: in the power industry, with the increasing number of hot summer days, power plants have continuously reached new high loads. In addition, hydropower generation is lower than expected, leading to a steady increase in coal consumption by thermal power plants and power plants. In the steel industry, steel mills have maintained a relatively high level of operation, with pig iron production and coal consumption by key monitored coking enterprises higher than the same period last year. In early July, due to production contraction and decreased transportation, coal inventories in major production and transfer locations continued to decline. The downstream steel and coking enterprises saw an increase in restocking demand, leading to a slight increase in coal inventories. In early July, both domestic and international coal prices showed varying degrees of increase, with domestic thermal coal market prices still lower than long-term contract prices.