North China’s Shanxi province will further deepen the implementation of the “20 coal measures” issued by the provincial government late last July, in a bid to boost sustainable development of the coal industry.<br /> <br /> The government will also unveil some new measures to address new changes, said governor Li Xiaopeng at a provincial government meeting on April 22.<br /> <br /> This is the latest move by authorities in the coal-rich province to help struggling miners through the most difficult time since the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.<br /> <br /> Lower prices and sluggish demand amid a slowing Chinese economy have forced many small and medium-sized miners to halt operations to avoid further losses.<br /> <br /> Local authorities are asked to step up efforts to remove unreasonable fees and taxes imposed on coal miners and carry out the reform of coal resource tax levied from volume-based to ad valorem in accordance with the central government’s plan.<br /> <br /> The government will suspend the approval of open pit mines, while encouraging competent companies and projects to build self-supply combined heat and power plants fired by low calorific coal, according to the meeting<br /> <br /> The modernization of coal trading will also be enhanced by exploring regional commodity derivatives and futures trading.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, the provincial government will coordinate financial institutions to provide more support to coal miners, helping miners broaden financing channels and lower financing costs.<br /> <br /> Shanxi, once the nation’s top coal-producer, unveiled in late July last year 20 supportive measures (click HERE for details) to help coal miners combat market adversities, including suspending the levy of two coal funds—the environment recovery fund (10 yuan/t) and mine transformation fund (5 yuan/t)—from August 1 to December 31.<br /> <br /> To alleviate growing pressure facing coal miners, the provincial government on March 27 announced that it will not levy the two funds till the date when the government officially implements a new coal resource tax.<br /> <br /> <p> Despite the still adverse market conditions, Shanxi turned out as high as 83.65 million tonnes of coal in March, up 31.05% from February. This led to mounting stocks of 45.68 million tonnes at the end of March, further weighing on the local market. </p> <p style="text-align:center;"> <img src="/upfiles/news/image/20140428/20140428115620_2470.jpg" alt="" /> </p>