Coal Resource Network

China's total electricity consumption exceeded 1 trillion kWh in Aug 2026, reaching 1,033.2 billion kWh, up 1.7% year on year. The power load hit a record high of 1.56 billion kW, 49.69 million kW above the previous year's peak, with seven days surpassing last year's maximum load.

China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR) stood at 3.0% and the five-year LPR at 3.5% on September 20, 2026, according to the National Interbank Funding Center. The rates remain valid until the next LPR release.

Three subsidiaries of Indonesian coal producer Bayan Resources, PT Tiwa Abadi, PT Tanur Jaya, and PT Fajar Sakti Prima, received approvals for their revised 2026 RKAB quotas on Sep 18, according to the local industrial media Tambang. The approvals came less than a week after the three companies notified customers of force majeure, as the lack of approval affected their ability to meet coal supply obligations under existing coal supply agreements.

In Aug 2026, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang were the top five thermal power producers in China, reaching 62.14 TWh (3.6% YoY), 54.74 TWh (14.5% YoY), 51.69 TWh (-8.4% YoY), 47.19 TWh (-3.1% YoY) and 36.84 TWh (-6.8% YoY), respectively, showed the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The No. 2 unit of the second-phase Jintan salt cavern compressed air energy storage (CAES) project in Jintan district, Changzhou, Jiangsu province, has completed full-unit startup, according to Power Construction Corporation of China (Power China), which participated in the construction. The project is the world's largest salt cavern CAES station by single-unit capacity, total capacity and overall efficiency, with two 350 MW non-supplementary-fired CAES units planned, 8 hours of storage and 4 hours of generation, an energy conversion efficiency of over 70%, and a single charge storing 2.8 million kWh. Core equipment will be 100% domestically produced once operational.

Indonesia is considering withholding next year's annual work plan and budget or RKAB, which is required for legal mining operations, from coal producers that fail to meet domestic market obligations or DMO, Asep Kurnia Permana, director of coal business development at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's Directorate General of Mineral and Coal said at an industry discussion in Jakarta on Sep 18. The move could tighten the link between compliance with the country's domestic coal policy and future production approvals.

Russia's maritime cargo flows are shifting east as the Ukraine conflict disrupts Azov-Black Sea shipping, FEFU expert Ilya Sinenko told Xinhua News Agency. Azov-Black Sea volumes have fallen 5-15%, mainly grain and agriculture. Far East ports' traffic has risen 15-20% over 18 months, led by coal and containers, though infrastructure limits remain. Sinenko calls the eastward reorientation a long-term trend toward Asia-Pacific, with Chinese cooperation potentially aiding ports, digital supply chains and multimodal transport.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on September 18 released a draft set of guidelines for the manufacturing of hydrogen equipment, specifically alkaline water electrolysers, and opened it for public comment. The document, a non-binding industry guidance measure rather than a mandatory pre-approval requirement, targets manufacturers across the full supply chain including electrolysers, diaphragms, electrode plates and catalytic electrodes. It sets thresholds for power consumption, variable-load response and durability of core products such as alkaline electrolysers, caps comprehensive energy consumption for full-chain manufacturing, encourages carbon footprint accounting and ESG disclosure for hydrogen production equipment, and tightens controls on production pollutants and toxic additives used in testing.

In Jul 2026, seasonally adjusted construction output in the EU dropped 0.3% from the previous month, while the euro area's reading was unchanged from Jun, Eurostat's preliminary data showed. YoY performance was weaker: EU construction output declined 1.8%, and the eurozone posted a 2% fall.

India's solar capacity has increased from 2 GW 12 years ago to 160 GW, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sep 19, citing rooftop solar, solar pumps, LED bulbs and other energy-efficient technologies as part of efforts to cut emissions.

Data from the National Greenhouse Gas Voluntary Emission Reduction Trading System shows that on September 18, the trading volume of certified voluntary emission reductions was 313,636 tonnes, with a turnover of 28.47 million yuan ($4.22 million), and an average trading price of 90.76 yuan/tonne. As of September 18, 2026, the cumulative trading volume of the national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction trading market was 23.11 million tonnes, with a cumulative turnover of 1.87 billion yuan.

Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange data shows that on September 18, the national carbon market composite price performance was as follows: opening price 95.00 yuan/ton, highest price 96.00 yuan/ton, lowest price 95.00 yuan/ton, closing price 95.63 yuan/ton, with the closing price down 0.27% from the previous day. Today's listed agreement trading volume was 481,043 tons, with a turnover of 46.00 million yuan ($6.81 million); block agreement trading volume was 400,000 tons, with a turnover of 38.13 million yuan; there was no one-way bidding today. The total volume of carbon emission allowances traded in the national carbon emissions trading market today was 881,043 tons, with a total turnover of 84.13 million yuan.

Coal stocks at Indian power plants stood at 23.18 Mt on Sep 18, down 7.59% WoW, according to the latest data from the Central Electricity Authority. Meanwhile, 74 coal-fired power plants were still operating with critical stocks, compared with week-ago 63 plants, the data showed. The number of plants relying on domestic coal reached 65.

The Dalian Commodity Exchange said it will adjust the price limit for iron ore, No. 1 soybean, No. 2 soybean, soymeal, soyoil, egg, hog, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) futures contracts to 8% and raise the trading margin level to 10%, effective from the settlement on September 29, 2026 (Tuesday). The price limit for palm oil, ethylene glycol, pure benzene, styrene and liquefied petroleum gas futures contracts will be adjusted to 9%, with the trading margin level raised to 11%. The price limits and margin levels for LLDPE, PP and PVC monthly average price futures contracts will be kept consistent with their corresponding physical contracts, while those for other futures contracts remain unchanged.