BEIJING -
Noting China's huge demand for energy, US-based
Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector
coal company, is looking at opportunities for both
coal trading and investment in the country's coal
mines.
The coal producer, whose products
fuel more than 10% of all US electricity consumed,
announced in Beijing that it had officially opened
its office in the capital city, to cash in on the
country's growing energy needs. "China has the
fastest growing economy in
the
world and Peabody's China presence is a natural
extension of our mission to be a world-wide
supplier of low-cost energy," said Gregory H
Boyce, president of Peabody, in a company
statement.
China last year produced 1.96
billion tons of coal, with exports and imports
reaching 85.92 million tons and 18.6 million tons
respectively, statistics from the China Coal
Industry Association said. Coal currently makes up
70% of China's total energy consumption.
Peabody Energy, which currently has no
operating projects in China, aims to deepen ties
with the Chinese Government and start partnership
with the Chinese local coal companies such as
China Coal and the Shenhua Group. "We will look at
partnerships with the local Chinese coal firms,
instead of acquisitions of existing coal mines,"
Richard A Navarre, executive vice-president and
chief financial officer of Peabody, told a news
briefing in Beijing. From the partnership, Navarre
said, both sides will benefit from the particular
strengths of each company.
The
vice-president said they had not yet started talks
with their Chinese counterparts on specific
projects, but are moving in that direction.
Navarre foresees robust demand for coal from the
country's deepening urbanization and
industrialization over the next several years.
The country's long-term plan to
consolidate the fragmented coal sector by grouping
small coal mines into a few large coal-producing
bases will give Peabody the chance to bring in its
practices, management and technologies, the
vice-president said. The company also plans to
increase its coal trading volume with China, which
now only takes a "very small proportion" of its
total coal trade in Asia, Richard M Whiting,
executive vice-president for sales marketing and
trading of Peabody, yesterday told China Daily
after the briefing. The US-based coal company
collected revenue of US$3.6 billion by selling 227
million tons of coal products last year.
