Beijing intends to develop several 'sizeable' coal-industry conglomerates to compete on the international market under its 10th five-year plan, according to Yanzhou Coal Mining director Yang Jiachun. The H share, selected by the relevant authorities and the Shandong provincial Government to initiate such a move, said it would seek to expand production capacity by acquiring other quality mines. The remarks came after the Shandong-based miner posted a 29.74 per cent gain in net profit to 970.94 million yuan (about HK$909.7 million) for last year. Turnover rose 35.65 per cent to 4.87 billion yuan, of which 2.59 billion yuan was from domestic sales and 2.27 billion yuan from exports. Operating profit increased 33.09 per cent to 1.3 billion yuan. Profit growth was helped by the rebounding coal price and acquisition of Jining Three Coal Mine last year. The mine turned out 5.11 million tonnes of coal last year, accounting for 15.02 per cent of the company's 34.02 million tonne output. The closure of coal mines in the mainland and abroad also led to an increase in coal exports and the commodity's price in both domestic and international markets. Mr Yang said the increased exports helped alleviate the domestic supply glut. The company's average coal price rose 15.7 per cent to 157.11 yuan per tonne last year after five years of depression. National coal consumption was almost one billion tonnes last year, up from 950 million tonnes in 2000, while the national output remained at about the same level, Mr Yang said. National exports rose to 80 million tonnes last year from about 60 million tonnes in 2000.
