中文
The coal mine accident just happened in northern China's Inner Mongolia may have a limited impact on local and national coal supply, according to feedbacks Sxcoal has received so far.
Around 1:00 p.m. on February 22, Xinjing Coal Mine, an opencast mine collapsed in Alshaa Left Banner, Alshaa League, Inner Mongolia, burying many people and trucks extracting and loading coal in the pit.
State media reported 11 rescuing teams with more than 470 people and 130 vehicles rushed to the site for the saving efforts. As of 00:30 on February 23, 51 workers were still missing, while two were killed and six injured.
The accident, however, is less likely to have big impact on local and national coal supply, although such a serious accident is rarely seen in recent years, multiple sources told Sxcoal.
It is learned that Alshaa League has a total coal mining capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) in normal operation and another 3.9 Mtpa under construction or trail run.
Xinjing is a small mine with annual capacity of 0.9 Mtpa, still under construction, mainly producing thermal coal and low-sulfur 1/3 coking coal or semi-soft coking coal.
Inner Mongolia, the second largest coal mining base in China, has 344 mines in operation, with combined capacity of 995.35 Mtpa. Capacity of opencast mines combined in the region totals 467.85 Mtpa, accounting for 47%.
There are 47 coal mines under construction in Inner Mongolia, with the total capacity of 156 Mtpa. Opencast mines have 96.3 Mtpa in total, accounting for 61.7%.
After the accident occurred, all opencast mines in Inner Mongolia were ordered to conduct self-examinations to rule out potential risk of collapse, and no operations are allowed until the self-examination is completed.
However, according to market sources, the majority of opencast mines are running normally, and only a few reduced production and sales to facilitate the self-check. Operations at underground mines are not affected so far. In neighboring Shanxi province, mines received warnings but their operations haven't yet been affected either.
This suggests the government may have no intentions to expand safety inspections. However, it is also noted that the authorities usually strengthen safety supervision ahead of the "Two Sessions" and other major events, though the scale and intensity had weakened greatly in recent years.
In terms of the impact on coal prices, following the coal mine accident, China's coking coal futures jumped 5.13% and coke futures rose 2.58% in the night session of February 22.
But based on feedbacks received, the central government has issued documents to clamp down speculations by taking advantage of this accident. This means the accident may boost the market sentiment but the impact could be short-lived.
Should the central and local government authorities intensify safety inspections, coal production and supply would be temporarily affected to some extent.
Sxcoal will continue to follow on the latest development of the accident and its potential impact on the market.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Tammy Yang)
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