The ability to supply coal safely and stably continues to increase
Reporter Wang Yichen
The China Coal Industry Association recently released the "2023 Coal Industry Development Annual Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), which shows that the country's raw coal output in 2023 will be 4.71 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; the country's coal imports will be 474 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 61.8%. Both coal production and import volumes hit record highs. The safe and stable supply of coal strongly supports the steady and healthy development of my country's economy and society.
Upgrading and optimizing industrial structure
The "Report" shows that since the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the country's new coal production capacity has been approximately 600 million tons/year. National raw coal production will jump to 4.1 billion tons and 4.5 billion tons in 2021 and 2022 respectively, reaching 4.71 billion tons in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 4.5%; raw coal accounts for more than 65% of my country's total primary energy production. . Coal imports will reach 474 million tons in 2023, an increase of 170 million tons compared with 2020.
"The total coal supply in the country has reached a new high, and the foundation for energy security has become more solid." Guo Zhonghua, director of the Policy Research Department of the China Coal Industry Association, said that the coal industry has gone all out to increase coal production and ensure supply, with the "stability" of coal and "increased" have made important contributions to the security and stable supply of energy across the country.
In terms of coal prices, Guo Zhonghua said that the medium- and long-term contract prices of coal will remain stable in 2023. The annual average price of Qinhuangdao's 5,500 kcal thermal coal mid- and long-term contract was 714 yuan/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 8 yuan/ton. The peak-to-trough difference during the year was about 15 yuan/ton, which played a "stabilizer" role in the coal market. Spot prices in the thermal coal market fell. The annual average spot market price of 5,500 kcal thermal coal in Bohai Rim ports was 971 yuan/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 324 yuan/ton.
While volume increased and prices stabilized, the layout of coal production and development continued to be optimized. In 2023, there will be 7 provinces (autonomous regions) with raw coal output exceeding 100 million tons, one less than in 2020. Raw coal output will be 4.18 billion tons, accounting for 88.7% of the country's total. The raw coal output of the four provinces (regions) of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and New Zealand reached 3.83 billion tons, accounting for 81.3% of the country's total, an increase of 778 million tons and 3 percentage points from 2020. Xinjiang has accelerated the release of advanced coal production capacity. Coal output has increased by nearly 200 million tons compared with 2020, and "Xinjiang coal export" has exceeded 100 million tons, becoming a new growth pole of national coal supply. The raw coal output of Ordos and Yulin exceeded the 600 million tons and 800 million tons respectively, and the proportion of raw coal output in the two cities in the country increased to 30.2%.
"The construction of the five major coal supply guarantee bases in Shanxi, western Inner Mongolia, eastern Inner Mongolia, northern Shaanxi and Xinjiang is accelerating, the coordinated development of coal, new energy, and new material industry chains continues to deepen, the advanced production capacity of coal mines is accelerated, and the coal transportation channel system is increasingly complete. The ability to allocate coal resources has been significantly enhanced," Guo Zhonghua said.
The optimization and upgrading of industrial structure is accelerated. By the end of 2023, the number of coal mines in the country has dropped to about 4,300. Among them, the output of large-scale coal mines with an annual output of 1.2 million tons and above accounts for more than 85% of the country's total, and 81 coal mines with an annual output of 10 million tons have been built. Since the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the number of intelligent mining working faces in coal mines has increased from more than 400 to about 1,600.
"Through supply-side reform, the coal industry has undergone tremendous changes." Zhang Hong, spokesperson of the China Coal Industry Association, said that in the past, my country's coal production was dominated by small and medium-sized coal mines, but now through reforms we have eliminated a large number of backward production capacities. "In the past, more than 10,000 coal mines produced more than 3 billion tons of coal annually. Now, only more than 4,000 coal mines can produce more than 4 billion tons of coal, achieving high-quality development."
Clean and efficient utilization is promoted in an orderly manner
Coal combustion is the largest source of carbon emissions in my country, and it is urgent to promote the green transformation of the coal industry.
The level of clean and efficient utilization of coal throughout its life cycle in my country continues to improve. The degree of refinement of coal deep processing continues to increase, and new breakthroughs have been achieved in the engineering application of low-rank coal dry separation technology. The "three-reform linkage" of coal power units continues to advance. The ultra-low emission transformation of coal power installed capacity nationwide has exceeded 1.03 billion kilowatts. The standard coal consumption per kilowatt hour of thermal power generation has dropped by 0.2%. The control of flue gas pollution emissions from coal-fired power plants has maintained an internationally leading level. Projects such as coal quality utilization and circular economy coal comprehensive utilization are advancing steadily.
At the same time, the coal mine methane emission system is gradually established, and the comprehensive utilization policy of low-concentration gas is increasingly improved. The technology for the comprehensive utilization of co-associated resources in coal systems continues to advance, and positive progress has been made in concept innovation and industrial practice. Breakthroughs have been achieved in underground in-situ pyrolysis oil recovery technology for oil-rich coal and green and carbon-reducing ground gas extraction comprehensive utilization projects. The development and utilization of coal-based resources Performance continues to improve.
It is worth noting that coal is accelerating its transformation into raw materials and fuels. "Modern coal chemical industry is moving towards high-end, diversified, and low-carbon directions, and the industrial agglomeration, park-based, base-based, and large-scale development pattern has initially taken shape." Guo Zhonghua introduced that in 2023, coal-to-liquids, coal-to-gas, and coal-to-gas will be The production capacity of (methanol) to olefins and coal to ethylene glycol reached 9.31 million tons/year, 7.455 billion cubic meters/year, 18.72 million tons/year and 11.43 million tons/year respectively.
In terms of ecological protection, the ecological environment quality of mining areas continues to improve. By vigorously promoting clean production and green manufacturing, and collaboratively promoting carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, the circular economy in the mining area has developed steadily, and the comprehensive utilization level and efficiency of resources have been continuously improved. Preliminary statistics show that in 2023, the raw coal washing rate of large coal enterprises is 69.0%; the comprehensive utilization rate of mine water, the comprehensive utilization and disposal rate of coal gangue, and the land reclamation rate are 74.6%, 73.6%, and 57.9% respectively; the comprehensive energy consumption of raw coal production 9 kg of standard coal/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 7.2 percentage points. The application scope of green development technologies such as backfill mining, water conservation mining, coal gas co-mining, and coal-water co-mining continues to expand.
In addition, by increasing efforts to restore the geological environment and ecological restoration of mining areas, create national mining parks, national wetland parks, and industrial heritage parks, and explore the construction of "industry + tourism", "industry + modern agriculture and animal husbandry", "industry + rural revitalization" and other As a new model of integrated circular development, a large number of environmental treatment projects in coal mining subsidence areas and open-pit dumps across the country have gradually shown ecological effects, realizing the transformation from "greening" to "beautiful" and "rich".
Market supply and demand are basically balanced
In response to the trend of the coal market, the "Report" comprehensively judged that this year the quality of the national coal supply system has been improved, and the ability to ensure emergency supply has been enhanced. The supply and demand of the coal market will maintain a basic balance, and the medium- and long-term contract system will effectively serve as the "ballast stone" for the smooth operation of the coal market. and "stabilizer" effect. However, the international energy situation is complex, and the domestic coal supply and demand pattern has undergone profound changes. Taking into account uncertain factors such as extreme weather, emergencies, and new energy output, there may also be regional, time-based, and variety-based coal supply and demand mismatches.
This year is a critical year for the coal industry to achieve the goals and tasks of the "14th Five-Year Plan". In the face of multiple uncertainties, we must do a solid job in safe production in coal mines, ensure supply and stable prices of coal, deepen supply-side structural reforms, accelerate green and low-cost coal In the carbon transformation, we must adhere to innovation-driven development, build a modern industrial system, cultivate and expand new productive forces, and continue to promote the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity in the coal economy.
In terms of safe and stable supply of coal, it is necessary to intensify resource exploration and evaluation efforts and increase reserve resource reserves. Optimize the layout of coal production, plan and build large-scale coal mining areas, layout and build a number of safe and efficient coal mines and large-scale modern coal mines with continuous production capacity, and enhance the potential of large-scale coal mining areas to stabilize and increase production. Promote the construction of a coal production, supply, storage and marketing system, actively promote the construction of reserve production capacity, explore the establishment of a flexible production mechanism for coal mines, and promote the balance between coal supply and demand and price stability.
In terms of clean and efficient utilization of coal, the "Report" recommends promoting the green transformation of development methods and industrial structures, promoting the innovation and application of digital and green technologies in the entire coal industry chain, and overall promoting the clean management of coal throughout its life cycle from production and development to terminal consumption. . Comprehensively fight against the clean and efficient utilization of coal, implement the clean and efficient utilization of coal actions, strengthen the quality management of commercial coal, support the deep processing, on-road consumption and efficient utilization of coal, strengthen the graded and quality utilization of coal and the comprehensive management of bulk coal, and improve coal quality through multiple channels. Utilization and conversion efficiency to build a new system for the green, low-carbon and circular development of coal.
"After the energy properties of coal reach their peak, the properties of industrial raw materials will become more and more prominent. The comprehensive utilization efficiency of coal as a raw material should be improved, high value-added, refined and differentiated products should be developed to achieve green development." Zhang Hong said.
The construction of the coal market system is the key to the stable supply of coal. Guo Zhonghua said that it is necessary to improve the medium and long-term coal contract system and the coal market price formation mechanism, strengthen the performance of medium and long-term coal contracts, standardize and improve the coal price index, and build a unified market that is legal, compliant, healthy and orderly. Study and establish a long-term mechanism for win-win cooperation between the upstream and downstream industries of coal, promote the coordinated development of coal and downstream industries such as electricity, steel, and building materials, encourage the development of various forms of coal and electricity joint ventures, and optimize the combination of coal and new energy, and maintain the coal industry chain and supply chain safe and stable. (Economic Daily)