Business
        

Energy

China may face shortage of 56m tons of coking coal

Updated: 2011-03-29 13:22

(Agencies)

Twitter Facebook Myspace Yahoo! Linkedin Mixx

China may face a shortfall of 56 million tons of coking coal this year, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday, pushing Chinese steel mills to look further afield to make up the supply gap.

China is expected to produce 513 million tons of coking coal, used in steel production, in 2011, but total consumption is expected to reach 569 million tons, the paper said, citing forecasts made by top Chinese coal miners and analysts at an industry conference.

Faced with a widening supply gap, Chinese mills are set to boost imports from countries such as Mongolia, Russia and Australia.

Related readings:
China may face shortage of 56m tons of coking coal Restructuring plan for the Inner Mongolian coal industry
China may face shortage of 56m tons of coking coal Shenhua shortlisted in bid to develop Mongolian coalfield
China may face shortage of 56m tons of coking coal China approves coal emergency reserve plan

However, import growth for the year is expected to fall to around 10 percent, compared with the stellar 37.3 percent growth posted in 2010, said Shanxi Coking Coal Group Ltd General Manager Liu Shengrui.

China imported 47.27 million tons of coking coal in 2010, with imports from neighboring Mongolia surging 278 percent to 15 million tons, trailing behind top supplier Australia's 17.4 million tons.

Global coking prices are forecast to rise strongly the first half of this decade, as producers struggle to keep pace with surging demand led by steel makers from China and India.

Specials

Share your China stories!

Foreign readers are invited to share your China stories.

Fill dad's shoes

Daughter and son are beginning to take over the family business of making shoes.

Have you any wool?

The new stars of Chinese animation are edging out old childhood icons like Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty.

Panic buying of salt
Earthquake Hits Japan
NPC & CPPCC sessions