Energy production in October 2019

In October, the production of industrial raw coal and crude oil above designated size was stable, and that of natural gas and electric power was slowing down.

1. Steady Growth of Raw Coal Production and Decline of Coal Import Growth

In October, the output of raw coal was 320 million tons, up by 4.4 percent year-on-year, and the growth rate unchanged than that of last month. The average daily output was 10.48 million tons, 320 thousand tons less than last month. In the first ten months, the output of raw coal was 3.06 billion tons, an increase of 4.5 percent year-on-year.

In October, the coal import was 25.685 million tons, up by 11.3 percent year on year, and the growth rate was down by 9.3 percentage points from last month; from January to October, the coal import was 280 million tons, up by 9.6 percent year on year.

Coal prices fell slightly. On November 1, the comprehensive transaction prices of 5500, 5000 and 4500 kcal coal in Qinhuangdao Port were 565, 505 and 453 yuan per ton, respectively, down 5, 4 and 3 yuan from the end of September.

2. Crude Oil Production was Stable and Imports were Accelerated

In October, the crude oil production was 16.11 million tons, basically the same as that of the same period last year; the daily average output was 520 thousand tons, down by 1 thousand tons on a month on month basis. From January to October, crude oil production reached 159.25 million tons, up by 1.1 percent year on year.

In October, crude oil imports reached 45.51 million tons, up by 17.1 percent year-on-year, 6.3 percentage points higher than last month. From January to October, crude oil imports reached 414.545 million tons, up by 10.5 percent year on year.

In October, the international crude oil price fell in shock. On October 31, the spot FOB price of Brent crude oil was 59.3 US dollar per barrel, down 1.69 US dollar from September 30.

3. The Speed of Crude Oil Processing Accelerated

In October, 57.84 million tons of crude oil were processed, up by 9.2 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point slower than last month; the average daily processing was 1.866 million tons, down by 17 thousand tons on a month on month basis. From January to October, 537.1 million tons of crude oil were processed, up by 6.4% year on year.

4. Natural Gas Production Slowed Down and Imports Fell

In October, natural gas production reached 14.6 billion cubic meters, up by 8.2 percent year-on-year, 2.4 percentage points slower than last month; the average daily production reached 470 million cubic meters, an increase of 20 million cubic meters on a month on month basis. From January to October, natural gas production reached 142.3 billion cubic meters, up by 9.3 percent year on year.

In October, the import of natural gas reached 6.52 million tons, down by 10.6 percent year on year. The growth rate changed from positive to negative, which was 8.0 percent of increase in last month. From January to October, natural gas imports reached 77.71 million tons, up by 7.9 percent year on year.

5. Electricity Production Slowed Down Slightly.

In October, the power generation was 571.4 billion kwh, a year-on-year increase of 4.0 percent, a slowdown of 0.7 percentage points over the previous month; the average daily power generation was 18.43 billion kwh, a decrease of 1.26 billion kwh on a month on month basis. From January to October, power generation reached 5.9 trillion kwh, up by 3.1 percent year on year.

In terms of varieties, the growth rate of thermal power production slowed down slightly in October, the decline of hydropower expanded, nuclear power and solar power fell, and wind power turned from negative to positive. Among them, thermal power increased by 5.9 percent year-on-year, 0.1 percent slower than last month; hydropower decreased by 4.1 percent, the pace of decline enlarged 3.0 percentage points; nuclear power and solar power increased by 5.4 and 3.0 percent, 12.5 and 16.4 percentage points lower respectively; wind power increased by 10.0 percent and which was 7.9 percent of decrease in last month.

Annotations:

1. Explanatory Notes

Raw coal: refers to the raw coal produced by a coal mine that has been checked and accepted and meets the quality standards. That is to say, gangue with specified size (including pyrite and other impurities) is selected from coal and the absolute dry ash content of raw coal is less than 40 percent. Although the absolute dry ash content is over 40 percent, the inferior coal which has been mined with the approval of the relevant departments and has consumption demand should also be included in the output of raw coal. Raw coal is divided into anthracite, bituminous coal and lignite. In bituminous coal, it is divided into coking bituminous coal and general bituminous coal. Raw coal does not include stone coal, peat (peat) and gangue mined with the production process of raw coal.

Average daily product output: It is calculated by dividing the total output of Industrial Enterprises above the designated size announced in that month by the calendar days of that month.

2. Statistical Coverage       

The statistical caliber of the output data in the report is above the designated size of industry, and the statistical scope is industrial enterprises with annual main business income of more than 20 million yuan.

Because the scope of Industrial Enterprises above the designated size changes every year, in order to ensure that this year's data is comparable with the previous year's, the same period used to calculate the growth rate of various indicators such as product output is consistent with the statistical scope of enterprises in this period, and there is a caliber difference between the data released last year.

3. Survey Methods

Import data comes from the General Administration of Customs, of which August data is express data; coal price data comes from China Coal Market Network; crude oil price data comes from the United States Energy Information Agency (EIA).

4. Conversion relationship of natural gas units: 1 ton is equal to 1380 cubic meters.