AFX Asia reported China's 32 major coal companies recorded total profits of more than US$940 million (780 million yuan) for the January to April period, up 25.9% on last year.

 

Production rates matched the sheer rise in profits with 480 million tons of raw coal produced by May 18 this year, according to statistics released by the government-backed official Coal newspaper Zhongguo Meitan Bao and reported by Interfax China Business News. Production increased 12.4% compared with the corresponding period last year.

 

AFX Asia found 27 of the 32 coal companies posted total profits of 860 million yuan, up 16.2% from the previous year, while five firms recorded a total loss of 80 million yuan, down 35.9%.

 

Of the total output, the state-owned major coal mines contributed 290 million tons, a rise of 9.9% year-on-year, Interfax China Business News reported. They said over the first four months of this year the country’s coal sales jumped by 11.3% year-on-year to 400 million tons.

 

Demand for Chinese coal has been drawn from both from the domestic and international markets, with coal exports rising by 16.0% from the previous year to 29.54 million tons.