China's First-Quarter Coal Output Drops 0.1% from Year Earlier

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--China's coal output reached 850 million metric tons in the first quarter, a drop of 0.1% from the same quarter last year, while the amount of coal sold fell 0.66% to 820 million metric tons, the China National Coal Association (CNCA) said on May 4.

Due to the drop in coal output and sales, the industry's economic benefits have declined; the rate of coal enterprises losing money has grown to 44.4%; and some coal mines in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia have been forced to stop production, the CNCA said.

In the first quarter, China imported 83.96 million metric tons of coal, an increase of 5.1% from the same period last year, while coal exports reached 1.97 million metric tons, a drop of 3.5% from the first quarter of 2013. Imports of coking coal totaled 12.97 million metric tons, a drop of 24.5%; bituminous (power) coal totaled 32.25 million metric tons, an increase of 22.4%; and lignite totaled 19.58 million metric tons, an increase of 21.4%.

National coal shipments by rail totaled 589 million metric tons, an increase of 0.3%, and shipments through major ports totaled 163 million metric tons, an increase of 6.6%.

The nation's coal consumption totaled about 940 million metric tons in the first quarter, an increase of 0.9%, while social coal stockpiles have remained at a high level of about 300 million metric tons for 28 successive months. The power industry's coal consumption totaled 530 million metric tons, an increase of 2.1% from the same period last year; the iron and steel industry consumed 150 million metric tons, a drop of 1.5%; coal consumption by the building materials industry fell 3.4% to 100 million metric tons; and the chemical industry used 50 million metric tons, an increase of 10.5%.

In the market, coal prices have continued to drop. On April 25, China's coal price index hit 150.1, a drop of 17.3 points from last year, or a drop of 11.7 points compared with the value in the beginning of 2014. Growth in coal demand is expected to shrink in the first half of 2014, and coal prices are expected to stay low in the international market.

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