According to the data provided by the China Coal Industry Association, in May this year China's domestic coal sales reached 275 million mt, up 21.5 percent year on year. Meanwhile, in the same month, China's major state-owned coal producers registered a 12.5 percent year-on-year increase in domestic coal sales to 129.73 million mt.
In the first five months of this year, the total volume of domestic coal sales in China was 1.27 billion mt, rising by 27.9 percent compared with the same period last year.
On the import side, in May China imported 11 million mt of coal, down 19 percent from April and up 16.59 percent year on year. During the January-May period, China's total coal imports increased by 114 percent to 68.98 million mt, as compared to the first five months of 2009.