Executive says annual production growth will average 10.4pc
Shenhua Group, China's largest coal producer and parent of listed China Shenhua Energy, plans to quadruple its annual coal output to 800 million tonnes by 2020, according to a senior manager.
The target indicates an annual growth rate of about 10.4 per cent.
The company is on track to produce 200 million tonnes of coal this year, up a third from 150 million tonnes last year, Gu Dazhao, the general manager of the group's scientific and technological development department, told the China Coal Summit yesterday.
'Our output may exceed that of the United States' Peabody Energy, which will make us the world's largest producer, but until the arrival of the end of the year, we can't say for sure,' he said.
Peabody sold 240 million tonnes of coal last year and has exceeded that amount this year as it pursues a minimum 12-month target of 255 million tonnes, according to the company's website.