The energy crisis in China, which resulted in blackouts in September and October, is now easing, top government officials say, adding that more work must be done to ensure power and heating supply through the winter.
The soaring coal prices and the energy crisis hit China in the third quarter and continued into the beginning of the fourth quarter. In September, the world’s second-largest economy restricted power use in at least 20 regions and provinces that contribute more than half to the Chinese economy.
Surging coal prices and power shortages in China slowed the growth of its economy in the third quarter and are now threatening to spill over into the global supply chains in the fourth quarter.
China has moved in recent weeks to squash the surge in coal prices with government intervention, which resulted in a plunge in the price of coal.
The crisis is easing, and the government efforts to secure supply and halt the coal price surge have “achieved initial results,” Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng said this week, as carried by South China Morning Post.
“Efforts to secure power supply have achieved initial results, coal production capacity has been released, prices are gradually back to normal,” Han was quoted as saying in a statement on Tuesday.
“We must firmly establish a sense of the bigger picture and consolidate the results of maintaining supply and stable prices, to ensure that people stay warm through the winter,” the vice-premier added.
Earlier this month, Han noted, “More work should be done to increase the supply of coal and natural gas through multiple channels, keep the supply and prices of energy stable, and promote the clean utilization of coal,” the State Council of China said.
Chinese coal production in October rose to the highest level since March 2015 as the energy crisis prompted authorities to seek to increase coal supply and reduce coal prices. China recently ordered the expansion of more than a hundred coal mines.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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