China's coal production is expected to rise 4.9 percent over this year to
2.16 billion tons in 2006, more than enough to meet demand which is also
expected to rise next year.
This information was released by the Development Research Center of the State
Council last week.
The report predicted the country's total coal consumption will be 2.1 billion
tons in 2006, up 6.65 percent. Demand for coal is expected to rise this year by
7.4 percent.
The slowing of the rate of increased coal consumption next year compared with
this year is mainly due to government policies that have decreased investment in
sectors such as cement, aluminum, steel and real estate, the report said.
Conservation and more efficient coal consumption along with the introduction
of substitute energy sources are also reasons for the slower increase in coal
consumption, said the report.
It also predicted coal production in 2006 would not be affected by the
closure of many small coal mines this year.
China launched a massive crackdown on unsafe coal mines in August, following
a flooding of the Daxing Colliery in southern China, which killed 123 miners.
Since then, the country has closed nearly 2,000 coal mines and is expected to
shut down another 4,000 by the end of this year, according to state safety
watchdog.
According to the report, coal mine enterprises with annual sales of over 5
million yuan (617,000 US dollars), are expected to produce 1.95 billion tons of
coal next year, accounting for over 90 percent of the total output.