Bureau of Statistics: production of 350 million tons of raw coal in December 2020 increased by 3.2% over the same period last year.

In December, the production of industrial raw coal, natural gas and electricity accelerated, while crude oil production slowed down slightly. In 2020, the output of industrial raw coal above scale increased slightly, the growth rate of crude oil production accelerated, natural gas maintained rapid growth, and electric power production increased steadily.

I. production of raw coal, crude oil and natural gas and related conditions

The production of raw coal has been accelerated. In December, raw coal production was 350 million tons, an increase of 3.2 percent over the same period last year, an increase of 1.7 percent over the previous month, and daily production was 11.35 million tons, a decrease of 230000 tons compared with the previous month. In 2020, 3.84 billion tons of raw coal were produced, an increase of 0.9 percent over the previous year.

Coal imports increased. In December, 39.08 million tons of coal were imported, an increase of 27.32 million tons over the previous month. In 2020, coal imports were 304 million tons, an increase of 1.5 percent over the previous year.

The comprehensive trading price of coal in the port rose. On December 25th, the comprehensive trading prices of 5500 kcal, 5000 kcal and 4500 kcal thermal coal in Qinhuangdao Port were 642 yuan, 583 yuan and 519 yuan per ton, up 56 yuan, 50 yuan and 45 yuan respectively.

The growth rate of crude oil production has slowed slightly. In December, crude oil production was 16.27 million tons, an increase of 0.9 percent over the same period last year, and the growth rate was 0.3 percentage points lower than that of the previous month; daily output was 525000 tons, down 7000 tons from the previous month. 60 million tons of crude oil was processed, an increase of 2.1 percent over the same period last year, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous month. In 2020, 195 million tons of crude oil was produced, an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year, and 670 million tons of crude oil was processed, an increase of 3.0 percent.

The decline in crude oil imports expanded, and international crude oil prices continued to rise. Imported crude oil was 38.47 million tons, down 6.89 million tons from the previous month, down 15.4 percent from the same period last year, an increase of 14.6 percent over the previous month; in 2020, imported crude oil was 540 million tons, an increase of 7.3 percent over the previous year. On December 31, the spot FOB price of Brent crude was 51.22 US dollars per barrel, up 9.4 per cent from 46.84 US dollars per barrel on November 30.

Natural gas production continues to grow rapidly. In December, natural gas production was 18.7 billion cubic meters, an increase of 13.7 percent over the same period last year, an increase of 1.9 percent over the previous month, while daily production was 600 million cubic meters, an increase of 40 million cubic meters from the previous month. In 2020, natural gas production was 188.8 billion cubic meters, an increase of 9.8 percent over the previous year, and an increase of more than 10 billion cubic meters for four consecutive years.

The import of natural gas has changed from a decline to an increase. In December, natural gas imports were 11.23 million tons, up 18.0 per cent from a year earlier and down 2.4 per cent last month. In 2020, natural gas imports were 102 million tons, an increase of 5.3 percent over the previous year.

II. Electricity production

The growth rate of electricity production continues to accelerate. In December, electricity generation was 727.7 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 9.1 percent over the same period last year, an increase of 2.3 percent over the previous month. The average daily power generation was 23.47 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 2.07 billion kilowatt hours from the previous month. In 2020, the generating capacity will be 7.417 trillion kilowatt hours, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year.

In terms of varieties, the growth rate of thermal power, wind power and solar power accelerated in December, the growth rate of nuclear power changed from negative to positive, and the growth rate of hydropower was the same as that of the previous month. Of this total, thermal power increased by 9.2% year-on-year, 2.6% faster than the previous month; wind power grew 7.1%, 1.2% faster; solar power increased 8.9%, 3.6% faster; nuclear power grew 6.2%, down 0.8% last month; and hydropower increased by 11.3%.