Coal producers report better profits

BEIJING — Coal producers in China have reported impressive profits for the first half of this year.

Of China's 37 listed coal companies, more than half have estimated half-year profits to double in the first half of this year from a year ago.

In its semi-annual report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Henan Shenhuo Coal and Power Co Ltd. said the company's net profits excluding non-recurring gains and losses increased more than 11 fold year on year to 576 million yuan ($86 million) due to a rise in prices.

Meanwhile, China Shenhua Energy Company, the country's largest coal miner, announced earlier that its first-half profit jumped 147 percent from the same period last year to 24.3 billion yuan.

The company attributed the huge rise to higher coal prices.

Other coal producers, including Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity Power and China Coal Energy Company Limited, also reported hefty gains for the January-June period.

About 111 million metric tons of capacity was forced out of the market in the first half of this year, 74 percent of the annual target, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner.

In the first five months, large coal companies registered total profits of 123.4 billion yuan, 120 billion yuan more than the same period last year.

As part of the effort to overhaul the economy, the Chinese government plans to eliminate 150 million tons of coal capacity this year.