Cheap Chinese Coal is Making it Difficult to Reduce Consumption

Chinese coal prices are on course to close out 2025 with a whimper rather than a bang, ahead of a critical year in the government’s mission to meet its climate targets.

Even after a couple of sluggish months, coal output is still tracking for another record this year. Prices that briefly nosed above 700 yuan ($98) a ton in August, when air-conditioning demand is usually at its height, have since subsided and are likely to stay stuck until at least the winter.

President Xi Jinping has pledged that coal use will start falling in 2026, when the country’s next ...