Following a clampdown on illegal mines, China has now asked state-owned coal companies to cut their capacity by 10% and improve their efficiency, the Ministry of Finance said on its website late Wednesday. The government has allocated Yuan 100 billion ($15 billion), mainly to fund layoffs, the ministry added. China has been trying to address the oversupply in the domestic market as well as rising pollution. In the past three years, more than 200 million mt of coal production has been shut. Shenhua Energy, the biggest coal producer in China, has announced that it will cut production, stop construction at 12 mines and reduce output capacity by 30 million mt this year. “The capacity excess is being brought under control and production in April was down 15% on year,” a China-based market source said, adding that this trend of cutting capacity would continue. The PCC 1 FOB Qinhuangdao 5,500 […]