Coastal coal freight rates from Qinhuangdao port rise for sixth week

Freight rates to ship coal from northern China's Qinhuangdao port to the other Chinese ports of Zhangjiagang, Shanghai and Guangzhou continued to move up in the week ended August 28, the sixth week in a row, a weekly report released by Qinhuangdao port Wednesday said.

The freight rate from Qinhuangdao to Zhangjiagang for 20,000-30,000 mt capacity vessels averaged Yuan 38.90/mt ($6.35/mt) in the week ended August 28, up Yuan 2.80/mt from a week ago, the report said.

The Qinhuangdao-Shanghai route for vessels with a capacity of 40,000-50,000 mt edged up Yuan 3.90/mt week on week to an average of Yuan 34.70/mt. The freight rate from Qinhuangdao to Guangzhou on 50,000-60,000 mt vessels gained Yuan 2.50/mt to Yuan 41.40/mt.

Meanwhile, coal stocks at Qinhuangdao port stood at 6.52 million mt as of August 28, down from 7.0 million mt a week ago, 7.24 million mt on August 14 and 7.2 million mt on August 7, port figures show.