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China?s coal imports rising

2005-11-04

Chinese coal imports are growing, thanks to tight domestic coal supplies and government policies that encourage buying abroad.

China, the world's biggest coal producer, last year bought 18.76 million tons of coal from foreign companies for the first three quarters of this year -- an increase of 55 percent year-on-year -- while coal exports dropped 25.6 percent to 54.17 million tons for the same period, Xinhua reported Thursday.

Coal imports are expected to reach between 24.2 million and 24.5 million tons for 2005, and to increase slightly next year, officials said.

Constraining domestic production increases are limits on "transport network expansions" and Beijing's decision to close thousands of small coal unsafe mines. Also, China's petrochemical and electrical power generators are increasing the demand for coal.

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