Taiwan November Coal Imports Fall as Inventories Drop

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Dec 2009

Taiwan, which imports all of its coal needs, reduced purchases for a second consecutive month in November as power producers drew down inventories. Shipments fell 14 percent from a year earlier to 4.58 million metric tons, the Bureau of Energy in Taipei said in an e-mail today. Consumption climbed 9.1 percent to 5 million tons last month.
Coal, which fuels about 45 percent of Taiwan’s power output, is also used in steelmaking. Imports fell as electricity sales at Taiwan Power Co., the island’s monopoly grid operator, declined 5.3 percent in the 11 months through November.
Imports of thermal coal, used in electricity generation, dropped 7.8 percent in November from a year earlier, while inventories of the fuel fell by 450,000 tons during the month, according to the energy bureau.

Source: Bloomberg