K-Fuel China Needs It:China Needs All The Coal Production it Can Produce & K-Fuel Cleans It:
China coal shortage to continue
China, the world's largest coal consuming nation, used more coal than
it produced in 2007 and will stay short through at least 2010, a coal
industry official said on Tuesday.
China's demand for coal is expected to rise to 2.76 billion tonnes in
2008, from 2.62 billion tonnes in 2007, said Wu Chenghou, executive
director of the Coal Sale and Transportation Association of China.
Wu estimated China produced 2.58 billion tonnes of coal in 2007,
slightly above an estimate of 2.52 billion tonnes issued by the State
Administration of Work Safety.
He did not comment on whether the country had drawn down coal stocks
in 2007 to remain a net exporter, despite producing less than it
consumed. China has not yet issued official output data for 2007, and
often revises that figure several times.
Customs data released Tuesday showed the country's net exports of coal
fell sharply to 2 million tonnes in 2007, compared with net exports of
25.1 million tonnes in 2006 .
By 2010, China's coal consumption will reach 3.06 billion in 2010, up
10 per cent compared with last year, more than will be satisfied by
domestic production of between 2.9 billion and 3 billion tonnes, Wu
told reporters at an industry conference.
Coal output in 2008 could be reduced by a number of factors, including
a crackdown on mines that are unsafe, polluting or wasteful of energy,
Wu said.
Some mines could also be closed during the Olympic Games in Beijing in
August.
That could cause regional shortages in 2008, Wu said without further
specifying. He did not give an output estimate for 2008.
During last year's meeting of the ruling Communist Party, some mines
were shut and local media attributed the decision to an effort to
avoid embarrassing fatalities from mine accidents, which caused an
average of 10 deaths a day in 2007.