China's coal output to top 3.7 bln tonnes

China's coal production will reach more than 3.7 billion tonnes this year despite sagging market demand, an industry chief has predicted.

Although coal output, imports and stocks continue to increase, the consumption of the mineral remains slack, Wang Xianzheng, chairman of the China Coal Industry Association, said at a forum on Wednesday.

In the first 11 months of 2012, coal output totaled 3.51 billion tonnes, according to the association.

In the period, coal imports stood at 245 million tonnes, and should reach 250 million tonnes in the year, its data showed.

The import figure is slightly lower than the 290 million tonnes in coal stockpiles recorded by the end of November, indicating huge destocking pressure in the market.

In contrast, coal consumption expanded at a slower pace, chipping away at corporate profits. Consumption reached 3.72 billion tonnes from January to November, with annual growth rate in the period down 5.6 percentage points compared to the pervious year.

Meanwhile, combined profits at 90 major Chinese coal producers plunged 22.2 percent from a year earlier between January and October, according to the data.

Despite the overproduction, Wang forecast supply shortages in the long term. He estimated coal consumption would reach between 4.8 billion tonnes and 5.3 billion tonnes by 2020.