Overcapacity a Serious Problem in Coal Industry

　　New analysis by the China National Coal Association through the first 7-months of this year is pointing to overcapacity still remaining a serious problem in this country's coal industry.

 

　　CRI's Li Dong has more.

 

　　The CNCA report shows that the country's total coal reserve currently exceeds 200 million tons, the highest amount in the past ten years. The revenue of the coal enterprises has dropped by about 50 percent on average compared to the same period last year. Vice¹ chairman of the association Jiang Zhimin says:

 

　　"24 of the 90 large-sized coal enterprises in our survey are operating in a deficit². This accounts for one third of the enterprises in the survey. Plus, all the enterprises in the provinces and municipalities of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Yunnan, Chongqing, Anhui and Jiangxi are experiencing losses."

 

　　Meanwhile, high prices and low demand has given overseas coal enterprises a big chunk³ of the Chinese market. In the first 7 months of 2013, China imported a total of 187 million tons of coal, up 14 percent from the year before.

 

　　Conversely, exports declined by 22 percent to 4.9 million tons.

 

　　In the past 10 years, an overheated market attracted too many investors⁴ to the coal industry. Statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission show that from 2000 to 2005, investment in the coal industry only totaled 200 billion yuan, but from 2005 to 2010, the figure soared to more than 1.2 trillion yuan.

 

　　To curb⁵ excessive investment, the central and local governments have made policies to integrate resources within the coal industry by closing small coal mines and developing middle and large-sized ones. But in Shaanxi Province, one of China's biggest coal output provinces, most enterprises are still operating at a loss.

 

　　Han Xiaoping, chief spokesperson of China5e.com, an energy information and consulting service provider, says the harsh market may deteriorate⁶ even further in the coming years.

 

　　"The integration⁷ of resources in many places in China, through closing the small mines and expanding the large ones has created some super-sized coal enterprises, which are luring⁸ more investment into the coal industry. This is resulting in overcapacity in the industry."

 

　　Once a coal mine is built, it needs to maintain operations at a certain level to ensure its survival. Excessive production may push current overcapacity situation to even more embarrassing levels.

 

　　In the first six months, the net profit of the country's large- and medium-sized coal producers declined by more than 43 percent from the same period last year.

 

　　China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, with official data showing the country's coal production as exceeding 3.6 billion tons in 2012.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

7 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

8 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。