From the Economist: “China will need to import substantially more coal in order to cope with an expansion in coal-fired power generating capacity, according to a recent report by investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Coal imports will “double in every two years for the foreseeable future,” predicted Andy Xie, an economist with the bank.
China’s coal imports rose by 69% in 2004 to 19 million metric tons, but this accounted for just 1.0% of coal demand, he said.
In 2004, China consumed about 1.9 billion tons of coal, a sharp 20% increase from the year before.”
