At a joint press briefing held in Beijing on January 5 by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), National Energy Administration and the Shanxi provincial government, the provincial vice governor Chen Chuanping stated that Shanxi Province has recorded great progress as regards mergers of coal enterprises, with the result that 98 percent of coal mines have signed merger agreements.
Due to mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the province, the number of coal mines in Shanxi has decreased from 2,600 to 1,053, 70 percent of which have an annual capacity of 900,000 mt, while small mines with annual capacities of under 300,000 mt have been entirely eliminated. Following the M&As, the number of coal enterprises in the province has decreased from 2,200 to 130, with the formation of four giant coal groups with annual capacities of more than 100 million mt, and three large-size coal groups capable of producing over 50 million mt of coal per year each.
Meanwhile, coal output in 2009 in Shanxi is expected to reach 620 million mt, down from the record high of 650 million mt in 2008. It is expected that after mergers and acquisitions of coal mines and enterprises, coal output in 2010 in the province will reach 700 million mt.