China's power generators well prepared for surging winter demand
BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Ample heating fuel stocks from bumper production mean China may not need to ramp up imports of coal and natural gas to meet record power loads as a result of freezing weather which continues to grip the country.
Domestic heating demand has risen across China, with many northern provinces rewriting records as temperatures plunged below minus 30 degrees Celsius in some cities.
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Peak electricity loads were up by 100 million kilowatts on last year's high, Xinhua reported on Thursday. This equated to an increase of around 8.6%, Reuters calculations based on data from China's state planner showed.
China's State Council urged state-owned enterprises to boost energy supplies to cope with the elevated household demand.
China's daily coal production hit a record level of 13.8 million metric tons in November, while imports jumped nearly 35% on last year to build stocks ahead of the winter heating season.
Thermal coal inventories at key power generating companies stood above 200 million metric tons, a record high and up from 170 million tons a year ago, official data showed.
Similarly, domestic natural gas production for January to November was up 6% from last year, while natural gas imports jumped 6% to the highest level since January 2022 last month.
While high inventories and strong production mean that generators are likely adequately stocked to cope with the cold wave, the surge in heating demand could nonetheless provide a small boost to imports, traders said.
"Apart from driving a spike in thermal power generation for heating, the cold spell, which is also hampering domestic road transport of coal, may prompt some last-minute re-stocking," said a senior Chinese coal trader based in Singapore.
Several gas utilities such as Beijing Gas and Shenzhen Energy bought spot cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over the past week or so at prices under $12 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on delivered basis, traders said.
However, the purchases were driven more by bargain hunting than demand, as Asian spot LNG market remained well supplied with little fresh enquiries from across North Asia, they said. (Reporting by Andrew Hayley in Beijing and Aizhu Chen in Singapore; additional reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Alexander Smith)