China's energy planner has ordered local authorities to submit their coal resource integration plans by June. The plans must detail how smaller coal operations will be merged into larger ones in an attempt to improve efficiency. Analysts say after the mergers, the newly minted coal giants will be listed publicly.

Shanxi Province served as the pilot for the initiative and has already completed its mergers. Hebei and Inner Mongolia have submitted their integration schemes, but some provinces have made slow progress, Shanghai Securities News quoted a source from the National Energy Administration as saying on Wednesday.

Last October the State Council announced local governments would have to draft merger and re-organization plans for their local coal mining operations.

Provinces like Henan and Shanxi, well-known for their coal reserves, have almost finished coal integration schemes, which analysts say serve as good examples for other provinces.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that by the end of last year there were 1,953 coalmines and 130 mining enterprises in Shanxi. Before the project began there were 4,278 and 2,200.

Mr Guo Hanfen an analyst with Yingda Securities said that "After seeing completed cases in Shanxi, local governments have recognized the trend of merging coal companies is unavoidable. They have to finish the projects despite challenges, including objections from interest groups."

Mr Guo said that "The next step for these newly integrated coal giants is preparing for IPOs, and getting listed will help big companies manage more regularly and transparently.

And rumors about Shandong Energy Group's back door listing are rampant after numerous companies merged to become one. Sources from Kailuan Group confirmed the group might be listed this year.

(Sourced from Global Times)