Staff of Reuters Read for 2 minutes (Adds background) (Reuters) – BEIJING, July 13 – China’s coal imports increased by 35% in June compared to the previous month, reaching their highest level since 2021, because to strong demand from power generation and industrial activity in the country. Last month, China imported 28.39 million tonnes of the fossil fuel, up from 21.04 million tonnes in May and 12.3 percent more than June 2020. China imported 139.56 million tonnes of coal in the first six months of this year, down 19.7% year on year, according to data released on Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs. Several southern Chinese provinces, including Guangdong and Yunnan, ordered industries to stagger operations in the second quarter due to tighter power supplies. As the country’s prime summer season begins, coal-fired power stations are storing up inventory. By the end of the year, the Chinese state planner has urged power plants, coal mines, and transportation hubs to develop roughly 100 million tonnes of deployable coal reserves. In late June, a handful of coal mines in northern China suspended production due to increased safety checks. According to a study institute linked with China’s State Grid, electricity usage increased by roughly 12% in July compared to the previous year. (Muyu Xu and Shivani Singh contributed reporting; Tom Hogue and Muralikumar Anantharaman edited the piece.)/n
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