Chinese authorities have signaled they would start looking into the recent price spikes and subsequent plunge in the domestic coal futures market as part of efforts to contain the price of coal amid a power crunch. China will severely punish market violations in coal futures trading and pricing, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Friday, as carried by the Global Times . Early this week, the energy crisis amid a coal shortage worsened because of colder weather, sending the key Chinese coal futures contract to a new record high on Tuesday. The most actively traded contract on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rose jumped by 6 percent on Tuesday to exceed the equivalent of $302 per ton. China’s coal prices and coal futures had rallied over the past month amid a shortage of the fuel in the world’s second-largest economy, which has led to power cuts in […]