CHINA’S coal prices held near record highs Thursday as cold weather swept into the country’s north and power plants stocked up on the fuel to ease an energy crunch that is fueling unprecedented factory gate inflation. A widening power crisis in China, caused by shortages of coal, record high fuel prices and booming post-pandemic industrial demand as it shifts to greener fuels, has halted production at numerous factories including many supplying big global brands such as Apple Inc. Cold winter weather is likely to worsen the situation. China’s National Meteorological Center on Wednesday forecast strong winds could knock the average temperature by as much as 14 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country this week. The three northeastern provinces of Jilin, Heliongjiang and Liaoning — among the worst hit by the power shortages last month — and several regions in northern China including Inner Mongolia and Gansu, have started winter heating, which is mainly fueled by coal, to cope with the colder-than-normal weather. The government has taken a slew of measures to contain coal price rises including raising domestic coal output, rationing of power at factories and assuring energy supplies will be secured for winter heating season. Earlier this week, China said it would allowing coal-fired power plants to pass on the high costs of generation to commercial and industrial end-users via market-driven electricity prices. (SD-Agencies) | 