The annual coal procurement conference resulted in only a handful of minor contracts by Tuesday as mainland coal and power producers held out for a 5% to 8% price rise, the South China Morning Post reported, citing industry officials. However, analysts believed the price rise would not exceed 5% after the industry regulator said producers were free to set prices but the government would intervene if they went too high. Under a coal-cost pass-through policy implemented last year, power tariffs would be raised if coal costs rose more than 5%. It was expected the 10-day conference in Jinan, Shandong province, would be extended up to a week.
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