Freight rates for vessels shipping coal from northern China to the south continued to dip amid weak shipment demand from downstream utilities, posting the 33rd successive daily drop by September 8.

The decrease seen in all the shipping routes ranged from 0.1 yuan to 0.4 yuan per tonne, according to data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

The shipping rate for vessels of 50,000-60,000 DWT from Qinhuangdao to Guangzhou port stood at 22.8 yuan/t on September 8, up 0.1 yuan/t on day but down 0.2 yuan/t from a week ago, data showed.

The rate for smaller vessels of 15,000-20,000 DWT from Qinhuangdao to Ningbo port in eastern China's Zhejiang province was 22.5 yuan/t on the same day, falling 0.4 yuan/t on day and down 0.2 yuan/t on week.
The rate for 30,000-40,000 DWT vessels to ship coal from Huanghua to Shanghai port edged down 0.1 on day and fell 0.1 yuan/t on week to 19.8 yuan/t on the same day.The volume of coal shipped out of Qinhuangdao port fell 23.64% on week to 0.42 million tonnes on average each day over the week ended September 8.
Daily coal consumption at power plants under the six coastal utilities was kept low at 0.53 million tonnes on September 8, while their coal stocks totaling 13.5 million tonnes, hitting a nearly 6-month high. That was enough to cover more than 25 days of consumption, mainly due to reduced coal burn amid pleasant weather.

By end-August, coal stocks at China’s key power plants stood at 65.59 million tonnes, rising 5.6% from early August. High stocks may negatively impact utilities’ initiative in coal purchasing in September, despite the approaching routine maintenance to Daqin line.