Weak Coal Prices

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$US2 buy adds to bleakpicture for bulk coal
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 03, 2014 12:00AM

Sarah-Jane Tasker

Reporter
Sydney
THE $US2 purchase of a Canadian coal miner is the latest blow to the struggling sector and it is set to weigh further on negative sentiment for the bulk commodity.

The Asia-backed Up Energy Development Group has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding to buy Grande Cache Coal by paying $US1 each to its joint owners — Japanese trading house Marubeni and Hong Kong-listed coal company Winsway Enterprises. The two parties had bought the Alberta-based metallurgical coal company in 2012 for $C1 billion.

Winsway is set to retain a 17 per cent stake in Grande Cache Coal’s mine, according to The Wall Street Journal, and both Winsway and Marubeni have the option to buy back stakes of about 15 per cent each.

The price of metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, has fallen dramatically from its high of $US330 a tonne in 2011 and now sits around $US113 a tonne.

It has also been reported that the recently settled quarterly benchmark price for metallurgical coal dropped to a six-year low.

Australian coal producers and Japanese steel mills agreed to a fourth-quarter price of $US119 a tonne, which was down $US1 a tonne on the previous quarter. Producers had been hoping for a rebound in the benchmark price, which has slumped 64 per cent since 2011.

The local coal sector has already shed around 10,000 jobs over the past year and expansion plans have been scaled back and mines closed in response to the price slump.

BHP Billiton last week announced 700 job cuts from its Queensland operations and Japan’s Sumitomo and Brazil’s Vale have flagged closing their Isaac Plains mine, which could lead to 160 job losses.

BHP Billiton’s global coal boss Dean Dalla Valle warned at the time of BHP’s cuts that further changes were ahead for the struggling sector.

Deustche Bank analyst Grant Sporre said the metallurgical coal market remained finely balanced and that either further production curtailments were required or demand needed to pick up “substantially” for a price recovery.

“We continue to forecast the seaborne demand to be flat year on year, not only due to weaker than expected Chinese steel consumption, but also due to strong domestic supply resulting in increasing coking coal exports,” he said.

“It is therefore down to further closures in the US, Australia and potentially China, that could spark a slow price recovery.”

Mr Sporre said the bank expected further closure announcements from the US over the fourth quarter and potentially some out of Australia given that 13 per cent of producers were cash negative.

He said any price recovery was likely to be muted and that the bank had downgraded price forecasts by 3 per cent over the next few years.

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Re-introduced Chinese import tariffs to hit our coal miners
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 10, 2014 12:00AM

Sarah-Jane Tasker

Reporter
Sydney
AUSTRALIA’S struggling coal sector faces further pain after China announced it would re­introduce import tariffs on the bulk commodity.

The economic powerhouse scrapped import taxes for coking coal in 2005 and for other coals in 2007, but the Ministry of ­Finance yesterday announced the tariffs would return from next Wednesday.

Australia’s coal producers, which will be the most affected, are already struggling with low prices and many local mines are barely turning a profit.

More than 10,000 jobs have been cut from Australia’s coal industry as mines close and expansion plans are shelved, and any move to add more costs will probably renew calls for further consolidation in the sector.

China announced that import tariffs for anthracite coal and coking coal would return to 3 per cent.

Non-coking coal would have an import tax of 6 per cent.

“This is obviously another move to shore up the local coal industry,” Deng Shun, an analyst at ICIS-C1 Energy in Shanghai, told Bloomberg last night.

“Australian coal will probably be worst hit, as it was China’s top coal import source this year.”

Australian producers have been aggressively reducing costs and any new tax will be tough to accommodate.

The price of thermal coal is down about 22 per cent on the past year and is sitting at its lowest level since the second half of 2009.

At its peak, thermal coal was priced at about $US120 a tonne, but it has fallen to about $US66 a tonne for coal shipped through Newcastle.

The price of metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, has fallen dramatically from its high of $US330 a tonne in 2011 and now sits around $US113 a tonne.

In its latest quarterly report, the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics said that although coal consumption in key Asia-Pacific markets was increasing, coal prices were expected to remain subdued throughout the rest of the year in response to a continued abundance of supply.

BHP Billiton last month announced 700 job cuts from its Queensland coal operations and its global coal boss, Dean Dalla Valle, warned that further changes were ahead for the struggling sector.

Australia’s coal industry was also hit last month with news that China was introducing a ban on lower-quality coal.

Analysts were sceptical that the proposed ban on high-ash, high-sulphur material would be enacted but warned that in the worst case scenario, it was Australia’s miners that would suffer the most.

The ban was proposed by the China National Coal Association, which has been lobbying to regulate imports because domestic producers are suf­fering.

Based on industry data, almost half of all Australian exportable thermal coal would not meet a 15 per cent ash and 0.6 per cent sulphur cut-off, which was the suggested quality level for the ban.

Trade Minister Andrew Robb last night said Australia’s embassy in Beijing was “seeking full clarity” from China about the move, which comes as the government is trying to negotiate a free trade deal to abolish tariffs on Australian coal exports.

Mr Robb, who was visiting resources projects in the Pilbara, said: “We are aware of the reports and we are seeking full clarity via our post in China and from Chinese authorities.”

He said Australia last year provided 25 per cent of China’s imported coal, worth $9.1 billion.

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China’s new import tariff the last straw for struggling coalminers
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 11, 2014 12:00AM

Sarah-Jane Tasker

Reporter
Sydney
Scott Murdoch

China Correspondent
Beijing
Chinese miner pushing cart load of coal at Bagou village, Sichuan province, China 13 Apr 2006. mining The new Chinese import tariff is a further blow for Australia’s coalminers, many of whom are already losing money. Source: AP < PrevNext >
••
CHINA’S surprise move to hit Australian coal producers with a new tax on imports could prove to be the tipping point for miners struggling to stay afloat.

The move by the economic powerhouse to introduce the new tariff of between 3 per cent and 6 per cent from this Wednesday surprised miners, which are scrambling to understand the detail and determine the impact.

An oversupply of the bulk commodity, low prices and high costs have seen about a third of Australian coalmines run at a loss, and the new tax will be challenging to accommodate.

In Beijing, coal analysts said China’s decision to raise tariffs in a bid to protect its struggling domestic sector would cut the nation’s imports by up to 50 million tonnes a year, of which 20 million tonnes would have come from Australia.

James Rickards, general manager of investor relations at ­Chinese-backed Australian producer Yancoal, said any increase in operating costs in a challenging market would put added pressure on Australian producers.

“All parties need to be considering how they can maximise their efficiencies and look to the government as they continue to negotiate a fair trade agreement in the interests of the long-term ­viability of the industry,” he said.

Chinese analysts forecast that the price of imported coal will rise by 24 yuan a tonne on the back of China’s move to protect its domestic coal sector, which has been struggling with volatile ­prices and the government’s directive to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The likely reduction of 50 million tonnes represents about 15 per cent of the coal brought into China last year.

“The purpose of levying the tariff is to limit the amount of imports and help digest the excess capacity that exists now,” Galaxy Futures analyst Yu Jie said.

“This is absolutely going to reduce the volume of imports that come into China.”

Major producers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton declined to comment on the new tariff yesterday, given the bulk of their coal exports are delivered to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Glencore, which made a failed bid for friendly merger talks with Rio Tinto three months ago to ­create a $190 billion giant, is one of Australia’s largest coal exporters to the economic powerhouse.

There was market talk yesterday that the large producers had already priced in the tariff in the previous quarter’s coal contracts and that the full impact of the new import tax would not be known until early next year, when the next round of contracts would be negotiated.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Chris Drew said with thermal coal prices around $US65 a tonne and metallurgical coal at $US120 a tonne, Australia’s coal sector was “battling”.

“There are mines out there that are loss-making,” he said.

“We are probably looking at about $1 to $2 coming off the price of coal on the back of the tariff. It’s not a disaster, but it is an additional incremental negative in what is already a very challenged space,” Mr Drew added.

“There are guys that are operating on thin margins and if you lose a dollar or two it could have a much bigger impact.”

Wood Mackenzie’s senior analyst Rory Simington said he expected the tariff would have an impact of about a $3-$4 a tonne on coal sold to China, depending on the type of coal. “We think there are (Australian) mines operating at a negative margin and in the short term they are going to be $3-$4 a tonne worse off on coal going into the Chinese market,” he said.

Additional reporting: Rowan Callick

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China’s coal shoulder to Australian exporters
PUBLISHED: 8 HOURS 24 MINUTES AGO | UPDATE: 6 HOURS 5 MINUTES AGO

China’s coal shoulder to Australian exporters
Australian coal companies are being hit by environmental concerns, Beijing’s desire to protect domestic miners, and the slowing Chinese economy. Photo: Bloomberg

LISA MURRAY
It was almost two years ago that China’s State Council dropped a bombshell. After decades of surging coal use, driven by heavy industry and a booming economy, the country’s cabinet said it planned to introduce an “energy consumption control target”.

The aim was to keep consumption below 4 billion tonnes of standard coal-equivalent by 2015. That is, the government wanted to cap coal use.

At the time the announcement was dismissed, in Australia and elsewhere, as mere talk aimed at appeasing a population battling chronic air pollution. But a series of government policies, mostly targeting imports, as well as a sharp slowing in economic growth, could mean China’s decades-long coal binge is about to end.

And the idea of coal consumption peaking some time in the next few years is not so far-fetched.

This week, it became a reality for Australia. In a move that blind-sided the Abbott government and the Australian mining industry, China announced it had reintroduced tariffs on coal imports.

The timing is particularly awkward, as Beijing and Canberra are just weeks away from signing a free trade agreement. Coal, part of the negotiations, so far hadn’t been an issue. Now it is flashing red.

That’s because Indonesia, China’s other big source of coal imports, i exempt from the new tariffs, covered by a free trade deal between Beijing and the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

The timing and the size of the tariffs – between 3 and 6 per cent – were a surprise. Their introduction appears to be part of a concerted effort by China to reduce its coal imports in a bid to help its struggling domestic coal mining industry. It follows a decision last month to ban the import of lower-quality coal from next year – which increases production costs for Australian coalminers – and encourage power companies to reduce their reliance on coal imports. Meanwhile, there have been reports of an unofficial crackdown by customs officials, who are conducting more rigorous inspections of imported coal loads.

China has moved to hose down speculation it is adopting protectionist policies or targeting Australia.

“I don’t think this tariff change is aimed at Australia,” says Wang Zhenyu, a research fellow at a think tank linked to China’s Foreign Ministry, adding that the FTA negotiations were running “smoothly”.

Rather, Wang says “the new changes are to support the domestic coal industry”.

DOMESTIC INDUSTRY SUFFERS
China is the world’s largest energy consumer, accounting for almost half of global coal use in the decade to 2010. Over that time, coal accounted for 65 per cent of energy consumption and its use grew on average at 9 per cent a year. But since 2011, it has slowed dramatically toward the low single digits, with most analysts predicting flat growth this year. At the same time, a ramp-up in domestic and overseas production has resulted in oversupply so that coal prices have been pushed down to a six-year low.

China’s coal industry is suffering. The country’s main lobby group says 70 per cent of all coal producers are reporting losses and cutting salaries. Almost one-third of those companies have suspended any payments to workers at all.

“Domestic coalminers are really struggling,” says Lin Boqiang, director of the China Centre for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University. “We have overcapacity now that is about 1 billion tonnes or 20 per cent of current production.”

That leaves China’s government facing the twin challenges of cutting coal use as part of its “war on pollution,” and supporting the local industry to protect jobs and avoid a sharp slowing in the economy. One way of achieving both those aims is to target coal imports, which is bad news for Australian producers. They accounted for about 40 per cent of China’s coal imports last year.

Susannah Kroeber, analyst at J Capital Research says this week’s tariffs ­announcement was “about protection of local industry”.

“It follows what has been happening in some of the provinces with power plants and steel mills being directed by their governments to source coal from local producers.”

FTA TALKS
The surprise reintroduction of tariffs has put pressure on the Australian government to negotiate a good deal for the coal industry under the FTA, with negotiations expected to be finalised by next month.

“It is a bump in the road, not the end of the world,” says Trade Minister Andrew Robb. “Things are still on track to conclude FTA negotiations by the end of the year. This underlines the importance of ­concluding the negotiations to shore up our competitive position.”

While Australian coal companies may take a hit on margins, J Capital’s Kroeber, doesn’t expect a big reduction in China’s coal imports as a result of the tariff changes.

Xiamen University’s Lin agrees. For example, he says it’s cheaper for the economic powerhouse province of Guangdong, in China’s south, to import coal from Australia than transport it from the country’s main coal-making Shanxi province.

However, the broader trend of a slowdown in China’s coal consumption is a reality facing the global resources industry.

On Friday, Beijing’s PM2.5 reading, which measures the fine particulates in the air, was 382, a hazardous level according to the United States embassy. Commentators are calling it the latest “airpocalypse” episode to hit the capital and it puts more pressure on the government to respond.

Already, China has introduced coal-use bans in some areas and is trialling seven regional emissions trading schemes with plans to introduce a national scheme before 2020. The government is also set to give the green light to four nuclear power projects. As environmental concerns mount, the slowing economy is reducing the overall demand for coal.

The Australian Financial Review

BY LISA MURRAY
Lisa Murray
Lisa is a China correspondent, based in Shanghai.

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China slaps resource tax on coal industry
OCTOBER 13, 2014 11:30AM

China's government has said it will impose a resources tax of between two and ten per cent on the country’s struggling coal industry after last week’s shock announcement of an increase in tariffs for both coking and thermal coals.

The Ministry of Finance said on Saturday that the country would allow provincial authorities to set their own resources tax according to their local situation after considering the tax burden on companies and their level of reserves.

“The coal resources tax range will be between 2 per cent and 10 per cent with the specific tax rates to be set by provincial level finance and tax departments,” the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation said in statements posted on their websites, “provincial governments need to submit their proposed tax rates for final approval.”

The new resources tax is the latest move introduced by Beijing to combat the country’s worsening environmental crisis following the decision last week to impose a levy of three per cent on coking coal imports and six per cent on lower grade thermal coal.

China Coal Industry Association, the country’s leading industry body, estimates more than 70 per cent of coal miners have made losses this year.

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Whitehaven sounds China import alarm
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 16, 2014 12:00AM

Sarah-Jane Tasker

Reporter
Sydney
AUSTRALIAN-listed independent coalminer Whitehaven Coal has warned there is emerging uncertainty around the ­future of Chinese import conditions and an oversupplied market but the company is confident ­prices will gradually improve.

Whitehaven outlined in its quarterly report yesterday that during the September quarter, the benchmark Newcastle thermal coal index averaged $US68 a tonne, which was a 6 per cent decrease from the previous quarter.

“There are continuing signs that the thermal coal market is working through an adjustment phase, which began in 2013, to a more sustainable growth path,” the company said in its report.

“Indonesian exports have started to decline, helped by a new regulatory regime requiring all coal exporters to be licensed, and an increasing number of new thermal projects in Australia are being postponed.”

The company said that at current price levels it was reasonable to expect that there would be more supply rationalisation in key seaborne supply regions, and as those fundamental changes work through the market, thermal coal prices should gradually improve. Australia’s coal sector was shocked last week to learn that the Chinese government was introducing an import tariff on coal, from 3 to 6 per cent depending on the type of coal.

Whitehaven said yesterday that sales to China represented only about 7 per cent of its total sales. For its metallurgical coal products, Whitehaven received an ­average price of $US89 a tonne over the quarter and it expects the price to stay around that level for the next quarter. The company said that metallurgical coal prices for the final quarter of the calendar year were recently settled with major Japanese and Korean steel mills.

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China playing FTA games with coal tariffs, execs suggest
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 18, 2014 12:00AM

Damon Kitney

Victorian Business Editor
Melbourne
Mike Smith, Margaret Jackson and Ian McLeod at The Australian and Deutsche Bank’s Busines
Mike Smith, Margaret Jackson and Ian McLeod at The Australian and Deutsche Bank’s Business Leaders Forum in Melbourne yesterday. Source: News Corp Australia
TWO of the nation’s most powerful executives have suggested that China’s move to impose tariffs on coal imports could be part of “gamesmanship’’ as Chinese and Australian negotiators attempt to finalise negotiations on a free trade deal.

Addressing The Australian and Deutsche Bank’s Business Leaders Forum in Melbourne yesterday, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith and Wesfarmers group commercial director Ian McLeod said relations between Australia and China were still very positive.

But Mr Smith — who previously worked for 30 years with HSBC, including in several senior roles in Asia — described China’s shock decision to levy a tariff on coal imports of between 3 per cent and 6 per cent as “a bit unusual’’ and one that “smacked of protectionism’’.

He then added: “It could also be gamesmanship. Australia, as we know, is well progressed in the FTA and, therefore, is that another little bit of gamesmanship?’’

The move is designed to support China’s domestic coal sector, but big miners such as BHP Billi­ton have labelled it as “worrying” and called for a constructive resolution of free trade talks with the Chinese leadership. Tony Abbott earlier this week described the tariff move as an unwanted “hiccup’’ in the free trade negotiations.

Mr McLeod said while the Chinese could have their own rational reasons for the decision, he added: “The link-in with the free trade agreement does seem a remarkable coincidence.’’

The government is hoping to announce the agreement to coincide with the visit to Australia of Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of the G20 meeting.

But the federal opposition has claimed China’s move reflects the fact that the free trade talks are in a shambles after the Prime Minister put an end-of-year deadline on concluding the FTA.

The slowdown in the Chinese economy has seen the iron ore price fall to five-year lows of $US77.50 over the past month. While the price has recovered in recent weeks, it has again lost ground in recent trading.

But Mr Smith said he was not worried about the Chinese economy “at all’’.

“Business is getting on as usual,’’ Mr Smith said.

“There is no doubt the slowdown is policy-driven.

“They are trying to slow it down. Fundamentally, the economy is moving OK.

“It does have over­capacity in some sectors. Some of the property side is a little bit frothy but, again, it’s nothing to be too concerned with.

“The mining sector is going through a bit of a problem in China, but other than that it’s going very well, and certainly to the west and the centre of China it’s going incredibly well.

“So am I worried about China? No, not at all.’’

The local fossil fuels industry has also suffered from the recent decision by the Australian National University to become the first local higher education institution to quit its holdings in seven resources companies, which it claimed had a poor record on environmental responsibility.

The decision was described by Mr Abbott as “stupid’’, while other senior government figures, including Treasurer Joe Hockey and Education Minister Christopher Pyne have spoken out against the decision.

Mr McLeod told yesterday’s forum that it was the decision of individual funds where to invest their money.

But he noted: “We still have a very strong resources economy and I think that the businesses that operate in that sector operate well.

“ I think they do have their own individual consciences in terms of how they operate, increasing responsibility.

“And one of the advocacies that we have in that sector is that we’re producing that type of fuel as clearly as possible, and I guess it’s one of our competitive advan­tages.’’

Wesfarmers Resources is a significant Australian open-cut miner, with investments in two world-scale coalmines — Curragh in central Queensland and Bengalla in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Mr McLeod warned against drawing a “sweeping brush across something and believing that it’s inherently wrong’’.

“I think that’s the wrong conclusion to draw,’’ Mr McLeod said.

Mr Smith was more circumspect, reiterating his view that investment dec­isions were up to individual firms.

‘’We’re in business to be — to make a return for shareholders,’’ he said.

“And we have a set of standards, we have a set of values that we do that to, and at the end of the day it’s then up to individual investors to either invest in what they see as a good corporate citizen or not.

“And I think it is very much that individual choice.

“Our values can only be explained, but we can’t ask everybody to adopt.

“So, you know, everybody is entitled to a view.

“If you want a good return then you have to look at the best-performing businesses, whatever they may be.’’

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China signals dropping its tariff on coal imports after free trade deal is reached
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 21, 2014 5:36PM

Scott Murdoch

China Correspondent
Beijing

China's steady slowdownHockey says China to drop coal tariff
CHINA has flagged a repeal of the newly introduced tariff on Australia coal imports once a free trade agreement between the two countries is finalised.

Treasurer Joe Hockey met with Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei in Beijing today ahead of the APEC Finance Minister’s meeting tomorrow.

China made the surprise move a fortnight ago to introduce levies of 3 per cent on coking coal and 6 per cent on thermal coal for countries with which it did not hold an FTA.

“We want to see our way through it and the answer that we agreed upon was the free trade agreement,” Mr Hockey told The Australian.

“Once we get a free trade agreement it will be abolished.

“The quicker we get an FTA the quicker the tariff will go.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is hopeful of securing a free trade agreement with China by the time of the G20 summit in November.

But Mr Abbott sounded a warning to government MPs not to jeopardise the trade talks as he responded to a coalition party room meeting question about foreign investment in agriculture and real estate.

He said Australia needed the free trade deal being negotiated with China, and he hoped to seal it by the time of the Group of 20 leaders summit which he is chairing in Brisbane in November.

He also wanted to get as good a deal for agricultural exports as New Zealand secured with China in 2008.

Mr Abbott was questioned in the party room meeting on the government’s approach to foreign investment.

He said the government had a clear commitment to changing the foreign investment rules for agricultural land and agribusinesses.

The changes are expected to include dropping the threshold for approvals and easing the rules for state-owned enterprises.

Mr Abbott added he was conscious of the potential impact of foreign investment in driving up the cost of housing in capital cities.

However he said no one should do anything to jeopardise a good outcome from the FTA.

The prime minister also told the meeting that, subject to confirmation, he expected the parliament would hold special sittings of both houses in November to hear speeches from some visiting G20 nation leaders.

Additional reporting: AAP

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China’s decision to scrap tariffs on Australian coal surprises analysts
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 23, 2014 12:00AM

Scott Murdoch

China Correspondent
Beijing
CHINA’S decision to cut Australian coal tariffs to zero once a free-trade agreement is finalised has surprised Beijing industry analysts, given the government’s move to raise the taxes just a fortnight ago.

The Chinese government has flagged it is likely to repeal the higher levies on Australian coal imports, estimated to add about $US4 a tonne to imported coal, as part of guidelines stipulating that countries with which it has an FTA are not subject to pay such taxes.

The move to raise the taxes — 3 per cent for coking coal and 6 per cent on thermal coal — sparked outrage from countries which export coal to China. Australia is the largest international coal supplier to China, selling about $9 billion a year of coking and thermal coal to the country.

China is expected to import 90 million tonnes of coking coal this year, with 25 per cent of that coming from Australia.

In Beijing, ICIS coal analyst Deng Shun said China’s decision to repeal the tariffs meant Australia and Indonesia, which supply 70 per cent of China’s imported coal volumes each year, would not pay the taxes.

“The news is very surprising because just like the implementation of the tariffs, no one expected it to happen so quickly,” Mr Deng told The Australian. “If both Indonesia and Australia have zero levies then the tariff is losing its required effect, which is to reduce the volume of imported coal coming into China and help save the local industry.

“I don’t think Australia having zero tariffs on its coal will come into effect this year because China has to have a chance to use up some of the inventory it has built up.”

Zhongyu Information Centre coal analyst Guan Dali said the decision was surprising. “It was unexpected that the abolition would come into place so quickly,” he said. “Zero tariffs on Australian coal means the new tariffs are going to have little effect in bringing down the volume of imports.

“We can’t understand why the contradiction has happened and the change occurred so fast, perhaps the Australian coal exporters have been pressuring Chinese authorities.”

Minerals Council of Australia coal director Greg Evans said it was vital for the domestic coal industry to have the taxes scrapped as part of a trade deal.

“The immediate elimination of tariffs on Australian coal exports is a key objective for the sector and we understand Andrew Robb will be seeking to secure that outcome as negotiations come to a conclusion over the next month,” he said.

Additional reporting: Wang Yuanyuan

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China coal use falls: Greenpeace
JOHN conROY OCTOBER 23, 2014 1:00PM

A Greenpeace report citing official data reported in the Chinese press has found coal use in China is falling this year, down 1-2 per cent in the first three quarters compared to the same period last year.

It would be the first time this century that China has seen year-on-year quarterly falls in coal use and comes as the Chinese economy continues to grow by 7.4%.

"The data suggests the world's largest economy is finally starting to radically slow down its emission growth, and it comes ahead of key talks next year on a new global climate and energy deal," Greenpeace said.

"The latest third quarter data reinforces a trend towards falling coal use which started in the second quarter of 2014 and suggests China's annual coal use may end up down on the previous year.

"Significantly the latest data showed that even as power consumption grew by 4% (based on government data) coal demand for power generation actually fell by 1%.

"The drop intensified in August and September, with slow power demand growth and large hydropower additions conspiring to reduce power sector coal consumption by 11%."