China’s raw coal production went up 4.1 percent year-on-year in April, and an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Tuesday.
Between January and April, raw coal output was 1.10 billion tons, an annual increase of 3.8 percent, the bureau said in its latest release.
According to the statement, raw coal output in the three main coal- producing regions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia was 740 million tons in the first four months of 2018. This accounted for 67.5 percent of the country's total production, which was an increase of 1 percentage point from the same period of last year.
Coal imports dropped sharply in April to 22.28 million tons, a decrease of 10.1 percent year-on-year. From January to April, 97.68 million tons of coal were imported, marking an annual increase of 9.3 percent.
Coal prices have also fallen, the agency noted.
-Crude oil production stable, imports at record high
Last month, crude oil production reached 15.51 million tons, which was a year-on-year decline of 2.3 percent, and a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from March, the statement said, adding the average daily production was 517,000 tons in April, an increase of 0.2 million tons from the previous month.
From January to April, crude oil production was 62.25 million tons, an annual decrease of 2.1 percent, and a 0.1 percentage point increase from January to March.
In April, crude oil imports reached 39.46 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent, and an increase of 14.1 percentage points from the previous month.
The average daily import also hit a record high at 1.315 million tons, the agency said, adding between January and April, 150 million tons of crude oil were imported, an increase of 8.9 percent on an annual basis.
-Natural gas production up over 6 percent
In April, natural gas production remained high, with a production of 12.89 billion cubic meters, marking a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent, and a 5.9 percentage-point increase from the previous month, the agency said.
Between January and April, natural gas production was 52.63 billion cubic meters, up 4 percent compared to the same period last year, and 0.7 percentage points higher than the production rate in the first three months.
Natural gas imports have maintained a high growth of more than 30 percent for seven consecutive months, the agency noted. In April, imports of natural gas reached 6.82 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 34.2 percent, while the growth rate fell by 5 percentage points from the previous month.
From January to April, 27.42 million tons of natural gas were imported, up 36.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
-Thermal power grows
The bureau said that in terms of sub-categories, the growth rate of thermal power has been accelerating and the decline in hydropower has narrowed.
In April, thermal power increased by 7.3 percent, and the growth rate was 5.9 percentage points higher than the previous month. Hydropower, on the other hand, was down 2.6 percent, and the decline rate narrowed by 2.7 percentage points.
Last month, nuclear power increased by 6.5 percent while wind power and solar power generation maintained their double-digit growth, with an increase of 22.6 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively.
(Anadolu Agency)
