Shenhua Energy's coal output up 25.4 pct in 2011
Beijing. January 31. INTERFAX-CHINA - China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., the listed arm of the country's largest coal producer Shenhua Group Corp., increased coal output by 25.4 percent year-on-year to 281.9 million tons in 2011, Shenhua Energy announced Jan. 31.
Coal sales surged by 32.4 percent on an annual basis to 387.3 million tons last year, while coal exports fell 45.6 percent to 5.6 million tons in the same period, according to the announcement.
Shenhua Energy did not explain the increase in output and sales but Li Ting, a coal industry analyst with the Distribution Productivity Center of China Commerce, told Interfax that production likely rebounded from a deadly industry accident in 2010.
Shenhua Energy's Luotuoshan coal mine near Wuhai City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was the scene of a major flood in May 2010 when miners breached an underground pool of water. The accident resulted in the death of 32 miners and Luotuoshan's closure.
Li added that Shenhua Energy undertook a major expansion last year, acquiring coal and power businesses from its parent in April and opening the Lijiahao coal mine in Inner Mongolia in May.
Shenhua Group plans to open a coal mine in Australia, state media reported on Jan. 19.
-LYB