More excellent bulks material today from Macquarie:
China commodities trip: Update on government policy and coal
Following yesterday’s note on steel, we summarise the main takeaways regarding government policy and the coal market from our recent trip to China. Coal miners around the world have benefited from the Chinese government’s “276 working days policy” introduced in April 2016. This year, the policy has been relaxed, but more frequent and increasingly stringent safety inspections have led to ongoing production disruptions.