China announces higher coal import quality standard

By Tri Subhki

China will implement tougher measures on the quality of commercial coal for domestic use starting from next year in a bid to tackle severe air pollution. It is reported that the new regulation will pose limited impact on import as much of the imported coal has met the requirement.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has released a new regulation, under which the sulfur content of commercial coal should be less than 1.5 percent for lignite and below 3 percent for other coal varieties, while the ash content should be below 30 percent for lignite and 40 percent for other varieties.

The new regulation also sets caps on commercial coal to be transported over a distance of more than 600 kilometers. Lignite should have calorific value above 3,946 Kcal/kg, and ash and sulfur content below 20 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Meanwhile non-lignite coals should have calorific value above 4,300 Kcal/kg, and ash and sulfur content below 30 percent and 2 percent.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak