Bloomberg reported that China's benchmark price for thermal coal fell for a 12th week to the lowest level since 2009 as electricity demand slowed and hydropower output increased.
According to the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association "Coal with an energy value of 5,500 kilocalories per kilogram at the Chinese port of Qinhuangdao dropped to a range of CNY 620 per tonne to CNY 635 per tonne'
Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that the midpoint was 0.8% less than a week earlier and the lowest price since October 19th 2009.
Electricity output in June stalled from a year earlier as China's economy expanded in the second quarter at the slowest pace in more than three years. Demand for coal-fired power, accounting for 80 percent of the country's needs, also fell as dams supplied more electricity amid increased rainfall.
Stockpiles at Qinhuangdao, which delivers half the nation's seaborne domestic coal supplies, fell 0.9 percent from a week earlier to 8.47 million tonnes
Inventories were above 8 million tons for the ninth week, declining 1.2 percent this month, compared with 11 percent in July 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Port stockpiles typically fluctuate during this time of the year as utilities draw down local supplies and replenish fuel from delivery harbors to meet peak summer power demand.