2021-11-15 11:50:00
CHINA COAL PRODUCTION UP
REUTERS - Nov 15 - China's October coal output rose to the highest since at least March 2015, after Beijing approved a raft of coal mine expansions to tame record prices and boost supply.
The world's biggest producer and consumer of the dirty fossil fuel churned out 357.09 million tonnes of coal last month, up from 334.1 million tonnes in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
Output over the first 10 months of 2021 was 3.3 billion tonnes, up 4% year-on-year.
Since July, China has approved expansions at more than 153 coal mines, which could add 55 million tonnes of coal output in the fourth quarter, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said last month.
The central government, striving to put an end to power shortages, has also forbidden local governments to shut coal mines without authorisation and urged a restart at closed mines as soon as they have rectified any problems.
The increase comes as India, backed by China and other coal-dependent developing nations, brokered a last minute amendment at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow at the weekend to change the final wording of the agreement to "phase down" rather than "phase out" the use of coal.
President Xi Jinping said earlier this year that China will start cutting its use of coal from 2026. Thermal coal currently provides about 60% of the country's electricity needs.
China's top planning body said last Thursday that daily coal production had reached a record high of 12.05 million tonnes, after a cold snap a week earlier knocked daily output down by more than 1 million tonnes.
Spot thermal coal prices have fallen to about half their levels of a month ago at about 1,000 yuan ($156.70) a tonne at northern ports, thanks to the raft of intervention measures rolled out by Beijing.
The most-traded Zhengzhou thermal coal futures contract plunged 6.1% in early Monday morning trade to 819.4 yuan a tonne.
However, traders and analysts are still wary of domestic coal supply in the upcoming winter when bleak weather typically curbs operations at open-pit mines and impedes logistics.
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Earlier:
2021, November, 3, 12:00:00
CHINA COAL PRICES DOWN
A slew of cooling measures announced by China has led the futures prices plunging more than 53% since its high of 1,982 yuan on Oct 19.
2021, November, 2, 13:40:00
CHINA CLIMATE TARGETS UP
Coal (including lignite) still dominates the energy mix with 60% in 2020, but its share is decreasing rapidly (-11% points since 2010).
2021, October, 29, 13:50:00
CHINA CLIMATE TARGETS
China stated that it aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
2021, October, 26, 13:00:00
CHINA ZERO EMISSIONS 2060
As of end-2020, China had nearly 282 GW of installed wind capacity, and over 253 GW of solar capacity.
2021, October, 19, 12:30:00
CHINA NEED COAL, GAS
Temperatures have dropped sharply in many parts of northeast and northwest China, state media said. In Heilongjiang, all heating systems have been opened, and heating companies in Harbin city began supplying heat 4 days earlier than normal, Yulin in Shaanxi province is 10 days ahead of schedule, and Datong in Shanxi province started 13 days earlier than previous years.
2021, September, 22, 12:45:00
CHINA'S COAL INVESTMENT DOWN
"China will step up support for other countries in developing green and low-carbon energy and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad," Xi said.
2021, September, 17, 11:55:00
CHINA NEED COAL
China is expected to see a wide deficit for met coal supply in 2021
