As we discussed in Commodore Research's most recent Weekly Executive Report, China’s coal production averaged 381.5 million tons in January/February. This is 55.5 million tons (-12%) less than was produced in December and is down year-on-year by 1.2 million tons. Very significant is that China's coal production has now contracted on a year-on-year basis for eight straight months. Previously, China's coal production had grown on a year-on-year basis for thirteen straight months.
Coal-derived electricity generation, which makes up the bulk of China’s electricity generation, averaged 527 billion kilowatt hours. This is 54.2 billion kilowatt hours (-9%) less than was produced in December but is up year-on-year by 16.3 billion kilowatt hours (3%). Very helpful for coal import demand and the dry bulk market is that China's coal-derived electricity generation has fared better than domestic coal production. Before January/February, China's coal-derived electricity generation had fared worse than domestic coal production during three of the prior four months.
Total electricity production averaged 785.9 billion kilowatt hours. This is 72.7 billion kilowatt hours (-8%) less than was produced in December but is up year-on-year by 39.8 billion kilowatt hours (5%) and has marked the strongest growth since October.
