Hooray! China Bans Low-Grade, High-Sulfur Coal - Except For Power Plants And Utilities, That Is . .
Oh, and it's good to go for commodities traders, too!
(Reuters) - China's bid to limit the consumption of low-quality thermal coal in major cities to help curb pollution will not apply to power plants, traders and utility sources said, exempting a sector responsible for half the country's coal use.
China said on Monday that from 2015 it would restrict the production, consumption and import of coal with high impurity levels in a bid to fight smog, much of which is caused by using coal for heating and electricity. The government set three new quality thresholds, with the most stringent requirement banning the use of coal with more than 16 pct ash and 1 percent sulphur content in key population centers like Beijing and the Yangtze river delta region.
The move led to worries among some Australian producers that deliveries to China - accounting for about a quarter of the country's total exports - would be affected.
But two sources from large power companies said utilities would be exempt from these requirements. "This regulation doesn't affect us. It doesn't apply to power stations so we will continue taking Australian coal if the price is right," said an executive in charge of coal procurement at one of the country's top utility firms.
EDIT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-china-coal-idUSKBN0HE0TU20140919