China plans exchange

China, the world's largest coal producer as well as consumer, will set up the first coal exchange in the northern Shanxi province.

China Taiyuan Coal Exchange received the nod from the State Council, or the Cabinet, for establishment in Taiyuan, capital of the coal-rich province. The exchange, the first of this kind in China, would be expanded from the existing Taiyuan Coal Trading Market, expected to facilitate the trading of around 500 million tonnes of coal annually in the initial stage, a local coal official said. China exports 80 million tonnes of coal annually, ranking the third in the world, while coke exports account for 57 per cent of the global trade volume.

Early in 2005, the State Council set a goal to build a modern coal market system that contributes not only to market-based transactions but to marco-economic control in the next three to five years.