FEATURE: China seen moving away from coal supply guarantees amid shifted energy mix

China seems to be moving away from its multi-year coal guarantee campaigns as the risk of power shortages has eased, signaling a shift from supply boost to capacity reserves that could elevate supply elasticity in the future.

Supply guarantee policy reshapes coal market In May 2021, the Chinese government rolled out the coal supply guarantee policy to address an abrupt coal shortage that had quickly pushed up the fuel prices and caused power cuts in a few areas of the country. The subsequent droughts – which