Freight rates for vessels shipping coal from northern China to the south witnessed a 51st day-on-day decline by September 28 this year, which has almost dropped to a record low.
The decrease seen in most of the shipping routes ranged from 0.2 yuan to 0.9 yuan per tonne, a sharper drop than September 27, according to the data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
The shipping rate for vessels of 50,000-60,000 DWT from Qinhuangdao to Guangzhou port stood at 19.6 yuan/t on September 28, down 0.8 yuan/t on day and down 1.7 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 21.9 yuan/t on the same day, unchanged on day but 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 0.2 on day and fell 0.9 yuan/t on week to 18.5 yuan/t on the same day.
The sluggishness in coastal coal shipping market was mainly due to the decreasing coal consumption from downstream utilities amid cooler weather.
The volume of coal shipped out of Qinhuangdao port fell 25.76% on week to 0.49 million tonnes on average each day over the week ended September 29.
Daily coal consumption at power plants under the six coastal utilities stood at 0.48 million tonnes on September 29, down 6.1% from a week ago, while their coal stocks totaling 13.71 million tonnes, up 1.41% from a week ago, which was enough to cover 31 days of consumption.
Most ship owners chose to suspend shipping or turn to foreign trade market, given the loss of suspension was lower than that of cheap deals at present. The coastal coal shipping market may still see a downward trend in the coming October.
