Source: Economic Daily
On the evening of October 19, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) reported that it was "studying the implementation of intervention measures for coal prices according to law", which once again made the topic of coal prices on the cusp of the storm become the focus of public opinion.
On October 19, an open-pit coal mine in Yijinholoqi, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, coal mining machinery in an orderly manner. Wang Zhengzhao (Zhongjing Vision)
A day earlier, the National Development and Reform Commission had announced that the country's daily coal production had recently exceeded 11.5 million tons, an increase of more than 1.2 million tons from mid-September, a new high this year. The increase in daily coal production is indeed good news, but it still seems that the impulse to rise in coal prices cannot be contained, the coal market "coal super crazy" is still frequently staged, the price of thermal coal futures is only one step away from the 2000 yuan / ton mark, and the price of thermal coal in some producing areas once exceeded 2500 yuan / ton.
Coal is an important basic energy source and a people's livelihood commodity that is closely related to the people. In the past six months, coal prices have soared from less than 600 yuan per ton to 2,000 yuan, which not only significantly pushed up production costs in downstream industries, but also adversely affected electricity supply and winter heating. In this regard, the National Development and Reform Commission analyzed that the current coal price increase has completely deviated from the fundamentals of supply and demand, and the market demand near the heating season is strong, and the coal price shows a trend of further irrational rise, and it is necessary to intervene in coal prices.
Usually, when the market fails, the government should extend a "visible hand" to correct the deviation. The National Development and Reform Commission said that it "fully uses all necessary means stipulated in the Price Law to study specific measures for intervening in coal prices", clearly releasing a strong signal to the market to promote the return of coal prices to a reasonable range and promote the return of the coal market to rationality, demonstrating the firm determination of the central level to ensure the security and stable supply of energy and the warmth of the people through the winter.
On September 8, a coal train sped on the Zhangtang Railway. Photo by Tang Zhe (Zhongjing Vision)
This is not the first time that coal prices have been intervened nationwide. As early as December 1, 2011, also in order to curb the rapid rise in coal prices, the National Development and Reform Commission implemented temporary price intervention measures for thermal coal, and there were two main measures taken at that time: one was to appropriately control the price increase of contract thermal coal, and the other was to implement the maximum price limit for thermal coal traded in the market. That temporary price intervention lasted for more than a year and was not officially lifted until 1 January 2013.
Not only coal, but also china has also intervened in the price of a variety of important goods or services in recent years. For example, after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year, many places have carried out strict price limits on masks, disinfectants and other anti-epidemic materials, strictly investigated price gouging, hoarding and other behaviors; in terms of service prices, Shanghai has intervened in hotel room rates, online car prices, etc. for 3 consecutive years during the Expo, and Zhejiang Province has also intervened for the first time in the form of regulations in the form of regulations for low-priced express deliveries in some places, clearly proposing that express delivery operators must not provide services at prices below cost.
Globally, price intervention is also a common practice. In the 1970s, the Japanese government allocated 4 billion yen and 40,000 people to intervene in more than 130 goods and services. In 1982, due to the heavy snow use of a large amount of salt snow in New York, the price of salt shortage soared, and the price of salt quickly stabilized under the timely price intervention of the local government. Similar cases are not uncommon.
A truck transfers coal at the Tianjin Port Coal Terminal on Oct. 11. Photo by Zhao Zishuo (Xinhua News Agency)
It can be seen that the law of the market itself cannot completely replace the government's supervision. A market economy does not mean to completely let prices go. Moderate price intervention is not only conducive to stabilizing prices and protecting the interests of consumers, but also conducive to maintaining the smooth operation of the economy and the stability of social order.
It should be pointed out that price intervention is only a temporary measure, and it is only aimed at some important goods and services that have risen significantly in price and affected the lives of the people. When the price returns to a reasonable range, the price intervention should be lifted in time. In essence, price intervention is only one of the auxiliary means for the government to carry out social governance, and stable prices ultimately depends on the development of production and increased supply. Specific to the current "high-fever" coal price, we believe that with the accelerated release of high-quality production capacity and a series of "combination fists" to ensure supply, the momentum of rising coal prices is expected to fall.
Source/Economic Daily (author Gu Yang), original title "Intervention in coal prices according to law shows determination to ensure supply"