The coldest winter in China since 1966 has sent coal and gas prices soaring as power demand surges. Gas prices hit a three-year high, Bloomberg reported , while coal prices ticked up by 4 percent this week. Reuters noted that despite record liquefied natural gas imports, the cold spell caused a supply crunch. China went on an LNG-buying spree last year amid low prices caused by oversupply. Reuters reported last September that imports of the commodity into China were set to hit record-highs that year, at 65-67 million tons. That would set China on course to become the largest importer of LNG by 2022. Meanwhile, due to the cold weather, LNG prices in some parts of China have doubled since late November, Bloomberg noted. Despite the power crunch, however, China has not budged on its ban on Australian coal—a major fuel source for its coal-powered plants—which resulted as bilateral […]