BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Output of raw coal in China rose 1.3 percent year on year to 1.15 billion tonnes in the first four months this year, official data showed.
The country produced 320 million tonnes of raw coal last month, up 6.0 percent year on year, narrowing 3.6 percentage points from the growth in March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
The country imported 30.95 million tonnes of coal in April, up 22.3 percent year on year. In the first four months, coal imports rose by 26.9 percent to hit 130 million tonnes.
Coal prices further dipped, with the transaction price of Qinhuangdao 5,500 kcal/kg thermal coal standing at 501 yuan (about 70.63 U.S. dollars) per tonne on May 8, down 39 yuan from that in early April, the data showed. Enditem
A single purchase
