BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nearly half of thermal power enterprises in China suffered losses in the first half of the year, the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily reported on Wednesday.
According to an investigation by the China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD), 83 percent of the thermal power enterprises in north China's Shanxi Province suffered losses during the period.
For example, a power enterprise in Yun Cheng city, Shanxi Province had a loss of 242 million yuan in 2017, with an accumulative loss of 2.557 billion yuan. Its asset-liabilities ratio was 151.52 percent.
Experts attributed the losses to factors such as rising coal prices, limited increase in the electricity prices and mounting pressure from the interest expense.
Specifically, the rising coal price has increased the cost of power generation. for instance, the Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index (BSPI) stood at 390 yuan per metric ton (tonne) on June 1, 2016. It jumped about 48 percent to be 577 yuan/tonne in the end of 2017, directly leading to higher costs of the power generation enterprises.
Meanwhile, despite the rising coal prices since the second half of 2016, the electricity price in the domestic market was only raised once on July 1, 2017,which could hardly cover the cost increase.
For example, the on-grid electricity price of a power company in Yun Cheng increased 3.93 percent, while prices of the coal it purchased during the period jumped 41.24 percent.
In addition, many thermal power enterprises have faced the big pressure from the interest expense since their use of loans for investment.
Experts suggested favorable loan policies and market-oriented debt-for-equity swaps for the thermal power enterprises in the red to help them get rid of difficulties. (Edited by Jiang Feifan, Hu Pingchao )
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