China's Coal Output Increases 7.65% to 2.7 Billion Metric Tons in 2008

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China's coal output reached 2.716 billion metric tons in 2008, an increase of 193 million metric tons or 7.65% year over year. The output of 13 large coal production centers such as Shendong coal base surpassed 2.0 billion metric tons, according to the Instant Annual Statistics Report of China Coal Industrial Association.

According to the Report, there are eight provinces and regions, including Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, in which coal output surpassed 100 million metric tons, and 35 large coal enterprises, including Shenhua Group Corporation Limited (Beijing), China National Coal Group Corporation (Beijing), and Datong Coal Mine Group Corporation (Datong, Shanxi), that had coal output surpassing 10 million metric tons in 2008.

In 2008, the investment of fixed assets and production capacity in China's coal industry continued increasing. Technical innovation was accelerated in China's coal industry. Research and development of a 6 million-metric-ton large-scale comprehensive exploitation package of equipment was successful. Breakthroughs were also achieved in key technology for the co-exploitation of low-permeability coal seams without coal pillar and gas. In 2008, 268 highly efficient and safe coalmine shafts were built with an annual coal production output of 836 million metric tons, accounting for 33% of the total output nationwide. The average production output of coal nationwide reached 3.12 million metric tons, with a productivity rate of 17.86 metric tons per worker and a fatality rate of 0.045 people per million tons of production.

In the first three quarters of 2008, the national situation between coal supply and demand maintained overall balance. However, starting from September 2008, due to the increasing impact of the international financial crisis on the national economy, the demand for coal dropped and prices fell, putting increasing pressure on the surplus of coal production capacity.

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