Shanxi to limit coal output to less than 700 mln tons next year
Shanghai. November 30. INTERFAX-CHINA - Shanxi Province plans to limit its coal output to between 670 million tons and 700 million tons in 2010, state media reported on Nov. 30.
Shanxi Coal Industry Bureau (SCIB) estimated that coal supply and demand will rise steadily with the recovering economy, prompting an 8 percent year-on-year increase in coal output next year, Xinhua news agency reported.
Yu Wei, a coal industry analyst with Kunyang Investment, told Interfax that the moderate increase in output can effectively control market supplies and help increase the profitability of the country's coal industry.
SCIB estimated that the province's coal output will fall to about 620 million tons in 2009 from about 656 million tons in 2008 due to the bureau's efforts to consolidate the coal mining industry this year, according to the report. So far, the number of coal mines in the province has dropped from 2,598 to 1,053, as coal mines with an annual output below 300,000 tons have been eliminated.
The province also plans to expand its railway transportation capacity by 50 million tons to 400 million tons a year.
-TW