Combined coal stocks at China's four major Bohai Sea ports stood at 17.54 million mt on Sunday, up 60,000 mt, or 0.3%, week on week, Qinhuangdao Port data released Monday showed.
Coal stocks at Qinhuangdao Port dropped 5.7% week on week to 6.11 million mt on Sunday while stocks at Jingtang Port edged up 0.3% to 3.72 million mt. Stocks at Caofeidian Port rose 3.4% to 4.27 million mt and stocks at Tianjin Port rose 8.7% to 3.43 million mt.
The number of vessels queuing at the four ports totaled 158 on Sunday, down from 180 a week earlier, but up from 125 on December 23, 147 on December 16, 131 on December 9, and 136 on December 2, the port said in the statement.
Meanwhile, coal stocks at Fangcheng Port in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region -- a key import facility for coal from South Africa -- stood at 6.3 million mt on Sunday, up from 6.08 million mt a week earlier, according to a port source.
In light of a steady influx of overseas coal since mid-December, the port source expects coal stocks to rise further at Fangcheng Port, to about 6.5 million mt by the end of this week.
