Satisfying the hunger for energy: coal processing in China
Image: AP
The industry is starting up again. But now it has too little energy because the price of coal is skyrocketing. Emerging countries in particular are suffering from this. Winter could be tough – and not just for companies.
I.ever more emerging and developing countries are feeling the effects of the coal crisis. The skyrocketing price of coal, the increase in industrial production after the ebb of Corona and poor forward planning are putting consumer countries and their governments under pressure. Your energy supply will depend on burning coal for years to come. Opening new deposits is becoming more and more complicated due to the growing anti-coal sentiment and more difficult financing. Record prices, low inventory levels, low production volumes and a surge in demand are now leading to a bottleneck that cannot be resolved in the short term. It is reminiscent of the shortage of semiconductors – only that the well-being of many more people depends on coal than on computer components.
China is the largest consumer of coal and, at the same time, its largest producer. India is the second largest consumer of coal, and also number two in importing it. Due to the tight market, also driven by the Chinese boycott of Australian coal imports, Beijing has imposed a ban on exporting its own coal. At the same time, the Chinese with deep pockets are reaching for more and more imports from other producing countries such as Indonesia or, more recently, Kazakhstan. At the same time, Cambodia, like other Asian countries, plans to increase the share of its coal combustion in the electricity supply after 2030 from 56 to 75 percent of total output – with a sharp rise in electricity consumption.
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