The Future of Chinese Coal Consumption

• U.S. Energy Information Administration claims that China uses almost as much coal in a year as the rest of the world combined, accounting for 47 percent of coal consumption. The organisation claims that 3.8 billion tonnes in 2011, up 9 percent.
• China announced its strategy to cap total energy demand at between 4-4.2 billion tonnes of '‘standard coal equivalent'’ by 2015 in late 2010. (China’s ‘standard coal equivalent’ is a measure which sets calorific value of coal at 7000kcal per tonne. Chinese Thermal coal is about 5000-5500kcal/t while Australian Newcastle coal is around 6000-6300kcal/t.)
• The new Chinese energy policy was released as part of China's State Council's "12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development".
• Total electricity consumption will be capped at 6.15 trillion kilowatt-hours by 2015.
• From 2000 to 2012, China increased annual coal use by a staggering 2.4 billion tonnes, or 163 per cent.
• An economist at Barclays Bank, Kieran Davies, estimated that China bought 19.5 percent of Australia’s thermal coal exports worth $2.8 billion; 17.5 percent of coking coal ($3.5 billion) and 72.5 percent of iron ore ($38.6 billion).

Australian Coal Companies

• Centennial Coal (ASX:CEY)
• Australian mining giant, BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP)
• Macarthur Coal (ASX:MCC)
• Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC)
• Felix Resources (FLX)
• Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO)
• New Hope (ASX:NHC)
• Acacia Coal (ASX:AJC)
• Gloucester Coal (ASX:GCL)