China Post reported that Taiwan, which imports all of its coal, increased purchases of the commodity for the first time in 8 months after the island's biggest steelmaker boosted shipments.

Bureau of Energy said that Taiwan's coal imports rose by 0.5% in June 2009 from a year earlier to 5.26 million tonnes. It added that consumption dropped by 4.8% to 5.32 million tonnes.

Coal, a fuel accounting for about 45% of Taiwan's power production, is also used in steelmaking. Imports in June 2008 fell because of the stoppage of a steel plant. China Steel Corporation shut its number 1 blast furnace for part of June 2008 because of a faulty cooling box.

(Sourced from www.chinapost.com.tw)