Coal producers report big profits

Coal producers in China posted impressive earnings in the first half of this year. Of the 37 Chinese-registered coal mining companies, more than half estimated their profit in the first half of 2017 to be twice as high as in the first half a year ago. Companies attributed this to huge increases in coal prices. China Shenhua Energy Company, the country's largest coal producer, previously said its first-half profit rose 147 percent year-over-year to RMB 24.3 billion. Other coal producers, including Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity Power and China Coal Energy Company Limited, also reported strong profits for the January-June period. As part of efforts to overhaul the economy, the Chinese government plans to eliminate 150 million tons of coal this year.