Coal consumption growth slower in China last year

BEIJING – China’s coal consumption growth slowed in 2013 and the price of coal declined, according to the China National Coal Association (CNCA). Year-round coal production increased slightly to 3.7 billion tonnes in 2013. Consumption stood at 3.61 billion tonnes, with growth slowing to 2.6% year on-year.

In 2013, the coal inventory edged up 700,000 tonnes to 84 million tonnes. Net coal imports totalled 320 million tonnes, up 40 million tonnes from 2012.

The Government has been accelerating efforts to restructure the coal industry and plans to reduce coal consumption to 65% of the energy mix by 2017, down from 68%. The Government has been shutting down small coal mines, with the total number of mines reduced to 14,000 in 2012 from 24,800 in 2005, and has increased investment in non-fossil fuels. However, until China finds a cheap and easily-available alternate, coal will continue to dominate the energy mix.