A glut of coal in China is set to push falling prices even lower

China’s booming coal production is running well ahead of demand at the onset of winter, leading to swelling inventories and plunging prices that analysts forecast will fall further. A gauge of power-station coal prices in China has dropped around 9% since the end of September to an 18-month low of 790 yuan ($108) a ton. While demand for the fossil fuel would typically rise as the approach of winter boosted power demand, brimming stockpiles and flagging economic growth are weighing on prices.