MARKETS

China patches coal woes internally

A SEVERE downturn in China's coal industry has spurred regional authorities to pursue efforts tha...

Justin Niessner
China patches coal woes internally

In an effort to curb the drastic effect being felt in the rapidly developing Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the region’s chamber of commerce launched an energy branch charged with providing energy assisting coal companies struggling with the slowdown.

The branch will reportedly include a policy platform to sustain companies’ development, a coal port at Caofeidian in the neighboring province of Hebei and an integrated coal trading system.

According to China Daily, up to 80% of the member companies in the chamber’s energy branch are doing business related to coal and their reorganization during the challenging period has eroded private investors’ confidence.

Liu Feng is the head of coal trading company Baotou Zhengxing Material.

“As far as I know, many coal mines in Inner Mongolia have stopped production because of the weak market,” he told the Chinese newspaper.

“Private coal companies are suffering, but the state-owned ones are strong enough to cope.”

The industry support measures come as coal stockpiles in Qinhuangdao, the world’s largest coal port, hit 8.5 million tons and traders are reporting utterly stagnant business as coal prices continue an 11-week decline.

However, while small and medium sized players feel the pinch, China’s state-owned heavyweights have mostly been uncompelled to reduce output.

Shenhua Group, the country’s largest coal producer, has even planned to invest 25 billion yuan ($US4B) on a thermal power plant in the southwest city of Chongqing.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production