China coal output up 21.1 pct year on year in October

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Nov 2009

China's National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, reported on the performance of the coal industry in October.
Coal output in October increased 21.1 percent from a year earlier to 273 million metric tons (tonnes). The growth rate was 8.4 percentage points higher than in September. Daily railway loading reached 73,095 wagons in the same month, up 1.8 percent from the previous month but down 2.5 percent from a year earlier. The loading volume edged down 1.6 percent year on year to 153 million tonnes.
Inventories in major trans-shipment ports increased, while those in power plants remained stable in October. Coal inventories in Qinhuangdao port, the largest coal shipping port in China, amounted to 7.13 million tonnes by the end of October, up 2.71 million from a month earlier but down 1.14 million from a year earlier.
From January to October, China's raw coal output rose 11.4 percent to 2.42 billion tonnes, with the growth rate 2.8 percent lower than the previous year's period. Daily railway loading during the 10 months went down 4.7 percent year on year to 69,395 wagons, while loading volume slipped 1.8 percent to 1.44 billion tonnes.
According to customs data, China exported 18.9 million tonnes of coal in the first 10 months, down 50.6 percent from a year earlier. Imports soared 170 percent to 96.87 million tonnes, indicating net imports of 77.97 million tonnes. In comparison, net imports were 2.36 million tonnes during the same period of last year.

Source: Chinamining