Rising coal costs drive China power producers into the red

Wednesday, 22 Jun 2011

Xinhua reported that China five biggest power companies have reported increasing losses in their thermal power business ventures as they continue to struggle with rising coal costs and capped electricity prices.

The China Electricity Council said combined losses for the five companies thermal power ventures reached CNY 12.16 billion in the first five months of this year and almost triple that of last year.

The CEC said these losses translated to an overall decrease in profits for the companies with a total of CNY 5.57 billion in combined losses for the companies during the first five months of this year.

The five power magnates include the China Huaneng Group, China Datang Corp China Huadian Group, China Guodian Corp and China Power Investment Corp. These companies provide about half of the country power.

The council warned that these companies' financial woes will make it more difficult to ensure adequate supplies of power for the summer, when electricity usage peaks.(sourced from Xinhua)