China Qinhuangdao port coal stocks fall on week

SHANGHAI, March 13 - Coal stocks at China's top coal shipping port fell from a week earlier, as coal shipments outnumbered arrivals, port data showed.

Stockpiles at Qinhuangdao, China's largest coal shipping port, had fallen 8 percent from a week earlier to 6.61 million tonnes on Friday morning, the lowest in the past five weeks.

Average daily coal arrivals over the past seven days were nearly 520,000 tonnes, lower than the average daily shipments of 600,000 tonnes, according to Reuters calculations based on the data.

Average daily arrivals of coal cargoes based on month-to-date calculations rose 3 percent to 6,333 in the week to March 13, compared to the previous period to March 6.

Coal stocks at ports in Guangzhou, capital of the southern province of Guangdong, fell 7 percent on the week to 2 million tonnes on Thursday, the South China Coal Trade Center said on its website (www.huanancoal.com).

Following is a table on Qinhuangdao's coal stocks, arrivals and shipments to March 13.

STOCKS WAGON ARRIVAL COAL ARRIVAL COAL SHIPMENT

DAILY AVERAGE DAILY AVERAGE DAILY AVERAGE

(MLN T) (WAGONS) (TONNES) (TONNES) MARCH 13 6.61 6,333 510,000 600,000 MARCH 6 7.20 6,177 490,000 600,000 FEB 27 7.76 6,204 482,000 444,000 FEB 20 7.74 6,129 476,000 425,000 FEB 13 7.43 6,237 477,000 410,000 FEB 6 7.04 6,381 486,000 355,000 JAN 30 6.23 6,116 470,000 470,000 JAN 23 5.65 6,219 480,000 480,000 JAN 16 5.53 6,080 470,000 480,000 JAN 9 4.90 5,472 420,000 530,000 JAN 2 5.49 5,153 400,000 590,000 DEC 26 6.55 4,496 350,000 420,000 DEC 19 6.87 4,242 330,000 420,000 DEC 12 8.03 3,786 290,000 350,000 DEC 5 8.27 3,847 300,000 330,000 NOV 28 8.82 5,351 420,000 400,000 NOV 21 9.34 5,718 450,000 390,000 Source: Qinhuangdao Seaborne Coal Market (www.cqcoal.com)