Shanxi coke consolidation plan cuts producer numbers by two-thirds

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The number of coke producers in Shanxi dropped by 64% from 223 two years ago, with average production capacity rising to 2 million tpy from 700,000 tpy. 

Shanxi province has been China’s leading coke-producing region since 2012.

Now, about 70% of coke output in the province comes from large coke production centres producing more than 5-10 million tpy.

However, industry analysts told Steel First the Shanxi consolidation, through mergers and acquisitions, still has a long way to go, as the capacity utilisation rates at the region’s coke mills are still low.

According to the Shanxi Province Economic and Information Technology Committee, the local government aims to eliminate 18 million tonnes of excess coke capacity by 2017.