Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Recommended" rating for the coal mining industry [1] Core Viewpoints - The coal mining industry has seen an unexpected improvement in fundamentals as of July 2025, with significant changes in production and demand dynamics [2][7] - The report highlights a notable decline in coal production and imports in July, alongside a significant increase in thermal power demand due to high temperatures [11][30] - The overall supply of coal has contracted, while demand from key sectors such as electricity generation has shown signs of recovery [12][50] Summary by Sections Recent Trends - The coal mining sector's performance over the last month shows a 6.8% increase over one month, a 3.5% increase over three months, but a 5.2% decrease over twelve months [4] Supply Dynamics - In July 2025, the production of raw coal decreased by 3.8% year-on-year, with a daily average production of 12.29 million tons, reflecting a month-on-month reduction of 1.746 million tons per day [19][21] - The report notes that coal imports in July 2025 were 35.609 million tons, down 23% year-on-year, indicating a tightening supply [9][29] Demand Dynamics - The demand for thermal power increased significantly in July, with a year-on-year growth of 4.3%, marking a 3.2 percentage point increase from June [11][30] - The report estimates that the four major industries (electricity, steel, chemicals, and construction materials) contributed to a 3.8% year-on-year increase in coal consumption in July [50] Inventory Management - By the end of July, coal inventories at production enterprises decreased by 168,000 tons to 4.096 million tons, indicating effective inventory management [51][52] Investment Recommendations - The report suggests focusing on stable companies such as China Shenhua, Shaanxi Coal, and China Coal Energy, as well as companies with greater elasticity in thermal coal like Yanzhou Coal and Jinneng Holding [12][14]