China Taiyuan Coal Exchange has got the nod from the State
Council, or the Cabinet, for establishment in the capital of north
China's Shanxi Province.
The exchange, the first of this kind in China, will be expanded
from the existing Taiyuan Coal Trading Market, expected to
facilitate the trading of around 500 million tons of coal annually
in the initial stage, a local coal official said Wednesday.
China exports 80 million tons of coal annually, ranking the
third in the world, while coke exports account for 57 percent of
the global trade volume.
Pointing to this, the official said China needs its own
authority price for coal.
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 macro-economic control in the next three to
five years.
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)