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Chinese coal producers Yankuang, Shandong agree merger

  • Spanish Market: Coal
  • 17/08/20

Chinese state-controlled coal producers Yankuang and Shandong Energy have agreed to merge to form Shandong Energy Group Cooperation with more than 260mn t/yr of joint production capacity.

Shandong province's state-owned assets supervision and administration commission (Sasac) has approved the merger, although it is still subject to anti-trust scrutiny outside China.

Yankuang's listed subsidiary Yanzhou said on 12 July that the companies were working on a merger plan. The merger is part of the Shandong government's strategy of consolidating state-controlled companies with similar businesses so as to raise their efficiency.

Yankuang, which produced 166mn t of coal in 2019, has operations in Shandong and Shaanxi provinces and the Inner Mongolia region. Shandong Energy produced more than 100mn t last year, according to China's national coal association.

Their joint output will make the new company one of China's largest coal producers, accounting for around 7pc of the country's total coal production. Output of China Energy Investment, China's biggest state-controlled coal producer, was 510mn t last year.

The central government is pushing for more energy mergers and listings this year. This could see a further shrinking of the number of centrally-owned firms or "yangqi". Sasac supervises nearly 100 of these and last month called for further corporate restructuring.


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19/02/25

Low water likely to persist at St Louis into March

Low water likely to persist at St Louis into March

Houston, 19 February (Argus) — Low water conditions are expected to persist at St Louis through March, causing barge loading issues for both carriers and shippers. Minimal precipitation coupled with increased ice formation along the harbor decreased water levels to -3.3ft on 19 February at St Louis, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Some terminals at the harbor have been unable to load and unload barges because of the low water. Carriers expect this to become a larger issue when barges carrying northbound products reach St Louis in March. Although low water has been an issue at the harbor since early January, more barge carriers and shippers began to prepare for slipping water levels when grain barge movement picked up later that month. Some barge carriers have reduced the amount of product placed in barges in order to keep drafts from dipping below 9.6ft this week. Low water levels are anticipated to remain through 4 March, which may hinder barge loadings and increase delays at St Louis. St Louis has received less than an inch of rainfall over the past seven days, according to the NWS. There has been even less precipitation upriver in the Northern Plains over the past week. Larger ice formations have appeared in the harbor on account of freezing conditions. The city of St Louis is under winter weather advisory, and is forecast to receive 1-3in of snow between 18-19 February, according to NWS. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Trump asserts power over independent agencies


19/02/25
19/02/25

Trump asserts power over independent agencies

Washington, 19 February (Argus) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that claims to give him sweeping control over the budgets, policies and regulations of independent US agencies that oversee the energy sector, financial markets, trade and transportation. The order seeks to give the White House unprecedented control over the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and more than a dozen other independent agencies. Trump's order asserts that "so-called independent agencies" lack sufficient accountability and should be brought under his direct control. "For the federal government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people's elected president," according to the executive order, which was signed on Tuesday. FERC, the CFTC and the SEC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump's order would all but end years of attempts by the US Congress to shield agencies that oversee energy markets, trading, finance, maritime trade, railroads, and other businesses from excessive political influence. Congress made those agencies independent — often with a bipartisan board serving years-long terms — to ensure a degree of independence when agencies resolve business disputes, set market rules and issue new regulations. In Trump's first term, FERC's commissioners and Republican chairman rejected the administration's plan to push through market rules to bail out coal and nuclear power plants, based partly on the concerns that doing so would destabilize power markets and cost consumers billions of dollars. It remains unclear if the agency in the future could assert that degree of independence under the order. Trump's order would give the White House the ability to control independent agency budgets and require the appointment of a White House "liaison" in each agency. The order would require agency chairs to align their policies with the White House, subject all significant regulations to review by the administration, and would establish "performance standards" for agency leaders. The order provides an exception for the US Federal Reserve for monetary policy, but the agency's budget and its regulatory actions would come under White House control. Other agencies also covered by the executive order include the US Surface Transportation Board, the US Federal Trade Commission, the US Chemical Safety Board, the US Export-Import Bank, the US Federal Maritime Commission and the US National Transportation Safety Board. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan sets stricter climate goal in government sector


19/02/25
19/02/25

Japan sets stricter climate goal in government sector

Osaka, 19 February (Argus) — The Japanese government is planning to boost the use of renewable electricity at ministries and state-owned facilities, setting a tougher goal to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from public sector operations. The government aims to reduce its own GHG emissions by 79pc in the April 2040-March 2041 fiscal year against the 2013-14 level, it said in a plan approved on 18 February. This objective comes after the intermediate goal of a 50pc reduction in 2030-31 and 65pc in 2035-36. The government's climate plans are more ambitious compared with Japan's nationally determined contribution (NDC) , which was submitted to the UN climate body the UNFCCC on 18 February, because it wants to take the initiative to accelerate the country's decarbonisation drive. Japan's new NDC targets for a 73pc reduction in GHG emissions by 2040-41, after a 60pc cut in 2035-36. Tokyo plans to ensure at least 60pc of its power use comes from renewable sources in 2030-31 and more than 80pc from zero-emission power sources in 2040-41. Renewable power use at ministries was 27pc in 2021-22. The government aims to install solar power systems at more than 50pc of its own facilities and lands by 2030-31 and ensure 100pc penetration by 2040-41, actively adopting perovskite, the Japanese innovation for solar panel manufacture that uses iodine instead of conventional raw material silicon. Tokyo will also gear up efforts to improve energy efficiency at its buildings and switch all official vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs), fuel cell vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) and hybrid vehicles (HVs). Japan plans to generate 40-50pc of its electricity from renewables in 2040-41, up from 22.9pc in 2023-24. The share of thermal power will fall to around 30-40pc from 68.6pc, while the share nuclear power will increase to around 20pc from 8.5pc over the same period. The 2040-41 target is based on the expected Japanese power demand of 1,100-1,200 TWh, which is higher by 12-22pc from 2023-24. The breakdown of thermal output for 2040-41 is unclear. But gas-fed output is expected to hold the majority share, given that gas has already outpaced coal in power generation and Tokyo has pledged to phase out inefficient coal-fired plants by 2030. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

India's domestic coal supply to utilities rises in Jan


18/02/25
18/02/25

India's domestic coal supply to utilities rises in Jan

Singapore, 18 February (Argus) — Domestic thermal coal supplies to Indian utilities rose in January as power plants continued to boost inventories. Combined coal supplies to utilities from domestic sources such as state-controlled Coal India (CIL), Singareni Collieries (SCCL) and captive blocks stood at 76.41mn t, up by 5.8pc from a year earlier, provisional data from India's coal ministry show. Supply was also up from 76.04mn t in December. Indian utilities continued to restock, although coal consumption at utilities was weaker than initially anticipated, as temperatures in most parts of the country were higher last month compared to historical averages, curbing power demand. India's coal-fired generation — which meets most of its power requirements — stood at 109.68TWh during January, down from 111.72TWh a year earlier, but up from 104.30TWh in December, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data show. Higher domestic coal supplies and weaker coal burn supported stock positions at utilities. Combined coal inventories at Indian power plants stood at around 50.5mn t on 31 January, up from 45.2mn t on 31 December and higher from 38.59mn t as of 31 January 2024, according to CEA data. The inventory as of the end of January would last for over 17 days at the current daily coal consumption rate at utilities. Higher stocks and a steady uptick in domestic supplies might have pressured utility demand for imported coal and India's overall seaborne receipts last month. India imported 11.63mn t of thermal coal last month, down from 13.34mn t a year earlier, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. Imports reached 163mn t in 2024, down from 168.2mn t in 2023, Kpler data show. Indian power sector imports, which account for more than 40pc of the country's overall imports, dropped on the year for the fourth straight month in December , and might have eased in January. Combined thermal coal imports by Indian utilities, excluding captive power plants, stood at 3.25mn t in December, down by 2.17mn t or 49pc from a year earlier, CEA data show. Imports could come under pressure if the government does not extend its directive to imported coal-fired plants, which have a combined capacity of 17.7GW, to boost generation under Section 11 of the Indian electricity law, which also gives some flexibility to such generators to sell excess production in the power market. The directive is due to expire on 28 February. Production, supply mix The increased supplies to utilities were supported by higher overall thermal production. India's coal output rose by 4.4pc in January from a year earlier to 104.49mn t. The country's supplies to all sectors stood at 93.21mn t last month, up by 6.7pc on the year. CIL produced 77.79mn t in January, down from around 78.41mn t a year earlier, while it supplied 69.26mn t, rising from 67.52mn t last year, ministry data show. Of this, 55.01mn t of coal was supplied to the power sector in January, easing from 55.15mn t a year earlier. Meanwhile, output at coal producer SCCL rose by 5pc from a year earlier to 6.97mn t in January. But its overall supplies in January fell by about 1.5pc on the year to 6.12mn t, while dispatches to the power sector rose by 2.2pc on the year to 5.6mn t. Captive coal block producers and other small government mining entities comprised the remainder of the supplies to utilities in January. Output from captive coal blocks and other mining companies rose by over 31pc on the year to 19.72mn t in January, while supplies rose by nearly 30.7pc to 17.83mn t. Data on domestic coal supplies to Indian utilities do not include dispatches to captive power plants set up by industries. Supplies to such captive utilities — from sources such as CIL, SCCL and captive coal blocks — reached 6.29mn t in January, up by almost 9pc from a year earlier. Domestic supplies to steel and cement sector in January rose by 4.5pc and 31pc from a year earlier to 860,000t and 900,000t respectively, the ministry data show. By Saurabh Chaturvedi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Philippines to review shutdown of 232MW coal plant


17/02/25
17/02/25

Philippines to review shutdown of 232MW coal plant

Manila, 17 February (Argus) — The Philippines will review plans to retire the 232MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental province because the rehabilitation of a major regional power complex could cause an electricity supply shortage. The country could put on hold plans to accelerate the retirement of the Mindanao coal plant to 2026 from 2031, the Department of Energy (DoE) said. The plant, majority owned by private-sector Aboitiz Power, started operations in 2006 under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the National Power and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management. The plant was originally scheduled to be retired in 2031 once the BOT agreement had run its course and plant ownership transferred to the national government, but authorities later decided to shut it down by 2026. The plant consumes over 1mn t/yr of coal. Authorities might review the retirement plans to offset the loss of power supply from the 1,000MW Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex, which will be rehabilitated next year. The complex comprises seven hydropower plants and serves as a key source of baseload power in the Mindanao grid. It is currently capable of producing only 600-700MW of power because of siltation and ageing infrastructure. Parts of the power complex are over 50 years old and its oldest dam, Agus 6, started commercial operations in April 1971. The rehabilitation involves repairing, replacing and upgrading the components of an existing hydroelectric power plant to restore its functionality, improve efficiency and extend its lifespan. The complex will run at a derated capacity during rehabilitation works, which could take several years. This comes as power demand in the Mindanao grid continued to increase last year. Demand averaged 2.248GW in 2024, a 10.2pc increase from 2.040GW a year earlier. The Mindanao plant could supply enough power to keep the grid stable at its full capacity, by covering for the loss in generating capacity and meeting the increase in power demand, DoE added. By Antonio Delos Reyes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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