China and India may increase imports of coal by 78 percent to 337 million metric tons next year, further driving up prices from the highest in two years and diverting supplies from Europe to Asia.
China may buy 233 million tons more of the fuel than it exports next year, up from net imports of 143 million in 2010, Citigroup Inc. said in a Nov. 29 report. India faces a shortfall of 104 million tons in the 12 months ending March 2012, mjunction Services Ltd., a Kolkata-based commodity trader, said in a note on Dec. 6, citing Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.
Asia’s two fastest-growing major economies are burning more of the fuel as economic expansion raises demand for electricity. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that China’s gross domestic product will next year expand 9.6 percent and India 8.4 percent. China added about 51 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity last year, more than half the total capacity of the U.K., according to data from Daiwa Capital Markets and the U.S. Energy Department.
“All the indications are for increased demand in 2011,” Andrew Harrington, an analyst at Patersons Securities Ltd. in Sydney, said in a Dec. 9 interview. “China has become much more important especially because of the expectations that they will be unable to meet their own needs from domestic supply.” (more)
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