Weekly Coal Market Review: Port Inventories Fall, Post-Holiday Coal Prices Edge Up

(January 5–January 9)

Sentiment in the coal market has turned for the better.

Port Segment: Rising daily consumption at end-users has led to a moderate release of demand. Coupled with the inverted shipping costs for traders, port inventories have declined recently. This has strengthened the floor support for coal prices, lifted market sentiment, and driven a slight uptick in coal prices.

Production Hubs: Coal mines have gradually resumed normal operations recently. Growing procurement demand from end-users, together with rising purchases by transit customers, has improved coal mine shipments. Overall inventory pressure has eased, market sentiment has picked up, and coal prices have edged higher.

Coal prices are expected to fluctuate and stabilize in the short term. On one hand, the inverted port shipping costs and falling port inventories have given traders a strong incentive to maintain price levels. Meanwhile, traders’ high costs are also providing solid floor support for coal prices. On the other hand, end-users hold ample inventories, meaning restocking demand is unlikely to be released on a meaningful scale. The overall pattern of loose supply-demand balance remains unchanged, which will constrain procurement enthusiasm and cap the upside potential for coal prices.