Chinese coal futures rose to record levels as floods shut dozens of mines and displaced more than 100,000 people, throttling the country’s main source of electricity and compounding a global energy crisis.
Futures traded on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange climbed as much as 11.6 per cent to an all-time high of Rmb1,408.20 ($218.74) a tonne early on Monday. The CSI Coal index of big miners listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose as much as 2.1 per cent, partly reversing losses from last week, when official orders to boost coal production sent prices tumbling.
Flooding in Shanxi, a central province, over the weekend piled further pressure on Beijing to contain a growing energy crisis that threatens to undermine the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy, as the tumult in global energy markets has sent countries scrambling to procure power supplies at ever-higher costs.