Daily Management Review

China increases coal imports by 76% yoy in September


10/18/2021


China, amid an energy crisis in some parts of the country, increased coal imports in September by 76% year-on-year, while coal production fell by 0.9%, data from China's State Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.



pxfuel
pxfuel
Authorities in several provinces in China, mostly in the northeast, have been struggling since mid-September to cope with power and heating outages, which have arisen due to shortages and high costs of coal, as well as rising natural gas prices, among other factors. The power outages come amid efforts by the authorities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, reduce the use of coal and push for a "green economy".

The country produced 330 million tonnes of coal in September, down 0.9% from September 2020 and 1.8% from September 2019. Meanwhile, coal imports in September rose 76% year-on-year to 32.88 million tonnes.

Earlier, the country's chief customs office reported that China's coal imports rose by almost 14.7% in September compared to August this year.

Coal production in the first three quarters of 2021 rose 3.7% year-on-year to 2.93 billion tonnes, up 3.6% from January-September 2019. Coal imports fell by 3.6% year-on-year to 230.4 million tonnes.

Earlier, it was reported that China's three main coal-producing regions - Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region - had pledged to supply an additional 145 million tonnes of coal to other regions in the fourth quarter of this year for power plants at a reduced price amid a severe power shortage.

source: reuters.com