China: More coal supply to ease power strain

China’s railway authorities vowed to step up power coal transportation to Beijing and its neighboring city of Tianjin and Tangshan on Monday, in a drive to close the demand-supply gap in the region and to ensure the power demand in the summer peak and for the coming Olympic Games.

A source with the Ministry of Railways said more efforts will be made to replenish the power coal reserve in the region to the normal level. However the source did not reveal the current reserve total or how much in deficit it was.
Industry reports showed 343.85 million tonnes of power-coal were supplied in the first half of this year, an increase of 15.6 percent year on year, while 345.11 million tonnes were consumed in the same period, up 17.5 percent from a year ago.

Despite enhanced transportation, the power-coal supply strain remained grim in some areas where population and heavy industries are densely-located.

China Daily