Four months after the electricity price floating range was raised, coal prices also ushered in a new formation mechanism. On February 24, the State Development and Reform Commission stated that it has recently issued a notice to further improve the coal market price formation mechanism. The notice clearly states that coal prices should be guided to operate within a reasonable range. Considering not only the mining enthusiasm of upstream coal enterprises, but also the cost pressure of downstream power plants, and at the same time minimizing the space for hot money speculation, while effectively connecting the price mechanism of coal-fired power generation, the National Development and Reform Commission is working from the perspective of the whole industry chain. , to draw a reasonable buffer for market fluctuations.
Qinhuangdao water and coal take the lead
Coal is an important primary product related to the national economy and people’s livelihood, and its price fluctuation is directly related to the normal operation of the national economy. At the press conference held on February 24, Wan Jinsong, director of the Price Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, introduced that to improve the coal market price formation mechanism, the main content is to clarify the reasonable range of coal prices and the effective transmission of coal and electricity prices within the reasonable range.
In terms of price, Qinhuangdao Port’s launching and key mining areas have become the first targets to “test the water”. The notice shows that judging from the market operation for many years, the medium and long-term transaction price of Qinhuangdao Port’s off-water coal (5,500 kcal) is relatively reasonable at 570-770 yuan per ton (tax included), and the upstream and downstream can achieve better coordinated development. At the same time, taking into account factors such as reasonable circulation costs and production costs, the reasonable range of medium and long-term transaction prices in the mining process of coal mining in key coal-transferring regions (Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Mongolian provinces) has been clarified accordingly.
Zhou Banxue, deputy director of the Price Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that when the coal price reaches the upper limit of the range of 770 yuan per ton, coal-fired power generation companies can ensure normal power generation after fully transmitting the fuel cost and the on-grid electricity price fluctuates reasonably. When coal prices hit the lower limit of the range of 570 yuan per ton, coal companies were able to maintain stable production. At the same time, enough space is set aside so that coal prices can fully reflect the changes in market supply and demand, which is conducive to giving full play to the role of market regulation.
In October last year, the fluctuation range of the market transaction electricity price was adjusted from no more than 10% and 15% respectively to no more than 20%. Now, to connect with the market-oriented electricity price mechanism, the upstream coal price also needs to be changed accordingly. Wan Jinsong said that the improvement of the coal market price formation mechanism this time is linked with the coal-fired power generation price mechanism to achieve “range-to-range”.
Hu Qimu, chief researcher of Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, analyzed the Beijing Business Daily reporter that my country’s coal self-sufficiency rate is relatively high, and the regulation of coal prices is reflected in the industrial chain. Let thermal power companies continue to lose money. Because the former is related to the security of energy supply, the latter directly affects people’s livelihood and economic development. Therefore, the adjustment of the National Development and Reform Commission this time focuses more on coordination in the industrial chain. The National Development and Reform Commission has repeatedly mentioned that each link has a reasonable fluctuation range, which ensures that each link has the ability to digest cost fluctuations without affecting production and ultimately the supply of energy in the operation of the entire national economy.
“Trivalent linkage” coordinated development of upstream and downstream
In fact, since the 1990s, the coal price has been gradually liberalized and formed by the market. However, due to various factors, the coal market mechanism is not perfect. In addition, speculation has fueled the flames, and there have been market failures for some time, leading to coal market failure. Prices fluctuated. For example, in October last year, when coal prices broke away from the fundamentals of supply and demand and soared sharply in a short period of time, the coal-fired power generation industry suffered serious losses, which affected the safe and stable supply of electricity, and also damaged the smooth operation of the economy.
Peng Shaozong, deputy director and first-level inspector of the Price Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, mentioned that the improvement of the mechanism this time is to solve the problem of “topping coal and electricity”, realize the “three-price linkage” of coal price, on-grid electricity price and user electricity price, and promote coal and electricity prices. Upstream and downstream coordinated development.
In an interview with a reporter from the Beijing Business Daily, Wang Peng, an associate professor at Renmin University of China, explained that the “topping cow for coal power” is actually the price inversion between coal and electricity. Under normal circumstances, the price between coal and electricity is a relatively smooth linkage mechanism, but from the perspective of coal mining, in the past period, under the relevant rectification, the coal mining industry has been reorganized, and regional leaders have emerged. , which helps to form a unified national coal market, but also produces certain side effects, such as controlling the price of coal to a certain extent.
From the perspective of electricity price, coal power also includes some new energy power generation. Overall, electricity has reached a balance between supply and demand. In order to promote the development of green energy, the country has also carried out related power transformation. In some areas, there is even an oversupply of demand. This has resulted in a drop in electricity prices. Therefore, from the overall situation, for a large number of power generation enterprises, the so-called “coal power top cow” situation occurs when coal prices rise, electricity prices fall, and costs are inverted, resulting in lower profits and even losses.
Peng Shaozong emphasized that this time, we will improve the coal market price formation mechanism, further “trace the source”, put forward a reasonable range of coal prices, and achieve an effective connection with the “base price + fluctuating no more than 20%” electricity price range for coal-fired power generation. Coal and electricity prices within the interval can be effectively conducted. In this way, the coal price, on-grid electricity price, and user electricity price have achieved a “three-price linkage” through a market-oriented approach, which has fundamentally straightened out the relationship between coal and electricity prices, and solved the problem of “coal-electricity tops”.
‘Not a government price for coal’
The market-led price mechanism has always attracted official action, which has also led to speculation on whether the reasonable range of coal prices means that the government should directly manage coal prices. In response, Wan Jinsong clearly responded, proposing a reasonable range of coal prices, not to implement government pricing for coal, but to establish a price range control mechanism on the basis of insisting that coal prices are formed by the market, so as to achieve an efficient market and a promising government. A good combination can prevent coal prices from rising and falling.
“To further improve the coal market price formation mechanism this time, it is neither a return to government pricing nor laissez-faire. That is to say, when the coal price is within a reasonable range, the market mechanism should be fully utilized, and market entities should be free to trade independently to form prices. Government supervision must be ‘in place and not offside’, and improper administrative intervention shall not be carried out; once the price exceeds a reasonable range, regulation and supervision measures shall be taken immediately to promote the return of coal prices to a reasonable range.” Wan Jinsong further explained.
Hu Qimu said that there must be a market mechanism in the coal power chain, which can regulate the national economy. For example, if the price of coal has risen, the price of coal power has also risen, so some downstream high-energy-consuming and high-polluting enterprises will be considered cost-effective. Reduce production, thereby regulating the low-carbon development of the national economy. This is the role of the market mechanism, which promotes low-carbon transformation through energy constraints.
“We have always been an ‘effective market and a promising government’, which means that local governments with market failures should actively introduce measures, and through capital speculation, hoarding, and misleading market expectations, resulting in violent fluctuations in commodity prices, it is a manifestation of market failure. It requires the government to supervise and regulate to ensure that the entire thermal power industry chain, from energy supply to thermal power production to downstream consumption, is within a reasonable and controllable range, thereby ensuring the efficient allocation of resources.” Hu Qimu said.
As for the question of excessive capital speculation, the National Development and Reform Commission also responded accordingly. Wan Jinsong said, “From the perspective of recent years, the irrational rise in coal prices has been driven by excessive capital speculation. This time, we have further improved the coal market price formation mechanism and proposed a reasonable range of coal prices, which is to set the government price in advance. The boundary line of regulation and supervision also sets traffic lights for capital, which is conducive to stabilizing market expectations, compressing the space for speculation, and can effectively prevent malicious speculation by speculative capital.”
Beijing Business Daily reporter Yang YuehanReturn to Sohu, see more
Editor:
Disclaimer: The opinions of this article only represent the author himself, Sohu is an information publishing platform, and Sohu only provides information storage space services.