September 07, 2008

Chinese railway prioritizes coal shipments

It is reported that China's railway administration has pledged to prioritize thermal coal shipments to power plants in regions hit by power shortages, as part of efforts to help ease a supply crunch ahead of upcoming Chinese holidays.

China Ministry of Railways said that the railway departments would immediately load and ship coal once they received requests.

As per report on January 22nd 2008, coal stocks in 355 power plants that depend mostly on railways for supplies had dropped to 19.68 million tonnes, approaching the "caution level" of 18.9 million tonnes, just enough for 8.8 days of generation.

Coal stocks in power plants in Hubei, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Ningxia and Anhui provinces were insufficient for even three days of generation, and the number of plants with stockpiles below requirement for three days had risen to more than 60.