Years of excessive investment are catching up with China,
and the latest example is coal. Its reserves now contain 220 million tons (200
million tonnes) of coal, as the Hao Hao Report notes. That puts China on track
to have as much as 440 million tons by the end of 2013, according to the China
National Coal Association (CNCA)—around 40% more than the combined weight of
the entire human population.
This excess coal has driven prices down by half, compared
with the same period last year. Now 24 of China’s biggest coal companies—nearly
one-third—are losing money, says Jiang Zhimin, vice-chairman of the CNCA. ”All
the enterprises in the provinces and municipalities of Heilongjiang, Jilin,
Yunnan, Chongqing, Anhui and Jiangxi are experiencing losses,” adds Jiang.