China’s energy crisis is likely to mean higher electricity prices, forcing the nation’s army of metals smelters to reduce output and threatening the industrial activity that has underpinned the nation’s recovery from the pandemic. In a bid to boost power generation, the government will allow electricity prices to rise by as much as 20%, double the current limit, according to a statement Friday from China’s cabinet. Power costs for the most-energy intensive industries, which would include metals producers, won’t be subject to a cap. China is the biggest producer and consumer of most metals. Cutting the reins on power prices is a dramatic intervention in a market that China had sought to keep stable in order to ensure predictable costs for industrial users. The move comes as the supply of coal, China’s mainstay fuel, tightens and prices surge to record levels, leaving power firms with the choice of curtailing […]