中国煤炭限产措施出现松动

China’s top planning agency has backed away from the production curbs that caused a huge squeeze in the coal industry last year, vowing to adopt more market-friendly measures in coal mining and other oversupplied industries.

中国最高规划机构国家发改委已放松煤炭限产措施，去年这些措施导致煤炭行业高度紧张，发改委承诺将在煤炭开采行业和其他供应过剩行业实行更以市场为导向的措施。

The National Development and Reform Commission still plans to cut 150m tonnes of coal mining capacity this year. But it said it would leave the size and timing of the cuts to local governments if prices remained stable.

国家发改委今年仍计划削减1.50亿吨的煤炭开采产能。但该部门表示，如果价格保持稳定，将把减产的规模和时间交由地方政府决定。

Beijing’s top-down restriction on state mines’ operating days — the number that miners could work in a year was cut from 330 to 276 — along with private mines closed by poor margins caused a supply shock and sudden price spike in the second half of last year. Benchmark thermal coal prices in Asia more than doubled, reaching more than $100 a tonne. It did not specify price levels but analysts believe it has set a floor of about Rmb535 a tonne, which equates to $70 a tonne for international traded coal.

中国政府针对国有矿企工作天数实行的自上而下的限制（煤矿一年的工作日从330天降至276天），加上民营煤矿因利润微薄而关闭，导致去年下半年发生供应冲击和价格突然飙升。基准亚洲热煤价格上涨逾一倍，达到每吨100美元以上。发改委并未具体说明价格稳定到何种水平，但分析人士认为，其设定的最低价格是每吨535元人民币左右，换算为国际交易煤炭价格为每吨70美元。

The NDRC is turning its attention to other industries, including non-ferrous metals and building materials.

发改委正关注其他行业，包括有色金属和建材。

But Beijing seems to have learnt its lesson from the sharp run-ups in the steel futures market last spring, followed by the spike in coal prices. “Non-ferrous metals and building materials also have the problem of overcapacity,” said Ning Jizhe, who serves as deputy director of the NDRC. “But they have a relatively higher degree of marketisation. We’ll rely more on market and institutional methods to cut capacity in these two sectors.”

然而，中国政府似乎已从去年春天钢铁期货价格大幅飙升，以及之后煤炭价格飙升中吸取教训。发改委副主任宁吉喆表示：“有色、建材，或多或少也存在着一些产能富余现象，但这些领域市场化程度都比较高。要通过市场化、法制化的手段推进去产能。”