China’s coal futures and mining stocks tumbled after the top economic planning agency said it would rein in runaway fuel prices and ensure stable supply by coal-fired power plants ahead of the forthcoming winter months. Twelve-month thermal coal futures for January 2022 delivery, the most actively transacted contracts for the fuel, slumped by their 8 per cent daily limit on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange to 1,755.4 yuan each. The shares of at least seven coal miners, including the state-owned China Coal Energy and Yanzhou Coal Mining, plunged by their 10 per cent daily limits on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The mood has soured suddenly on coal, after a meeting convened by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) with major coal producers and the industry guild to find ways to restore fuel prices back to “a reasonable range” ahead of expected peak demand in the northern hemisphere winter. “The current run-up of coal prices has completely diverged from the fundamentals of supply and demand,” the NDRC said on its website . “The commission will use every necessary means allowed by law to return the coal market back to rationality and ensure safe and stable supply of energy and heating in winter.” The statement by the NDRC, responsible for every aspect of China’s economic policy from setting prices to approving investments, is by far the toughest by the government, after surging coal prices led to power cuts, brownouts and shortages in at least 20 provinces. The power crisis has weighed on a manufacturing-led economy that is still trying to outgrow the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, causing the third-quarter economy to grow at its slowest quarterly pace since September 2020 . Residents in north-eastern China, which typically experience the harshest winters, had already begun experiencing power cuts in September, as power plants reduced their generation due to surging costs of thermal coal. Coal futures had soared 172 per cent through Tuesday this year on the Zhengzhou exchange, and the surge accelerated over the past month as the government’s efforts to cut carbon emission tightened supply, while rising prices in crude oil and natural gas fuelled the buying frenzy. The government will crack down on false information disclosure, moves to collude on and inflate prices and hoarding, the NDRC said in the statement. The planning body also called for a meeting with officials from the Zhengzhou exchange on Tuesday, asking the bourse to monitor abnormal trading activities and expose speculative trading, the Securities Times reported. Yanzhou Coal was the biggest decliner among Chinese coal miners, dropping 10.9 per cent to HK$13.56 in Hong Kong. Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining, the dominant miner in Henan province, fell by the 10 per cent daily limit on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to 10.85 yuan. China Shenhua Energy Company, the nation’s largest coal miner, fell 3 per cent to HK$18.04 in Hong Kong.