Small mines in China are being shut in a safety campaign ahead of the Olympic Games, leading to rocketing coking coal prices in China's top producing province.
More than half of China's coking coal is produced by small to medium-sized mines, which have previously been blamed for China's poor safety record.
The Chinese Government has now launched a safety campaign across the mining, railway and construction industries to tighten safety controls, which includes shutting down small mines.
Coking coal supply in Shanxi Province is now extremely tight, according to local analysts speaking to Reuters.
According to traders and industry officials, prices of prime coking coal have gone up to 15 percent over the past few days, from CNY200 to CNY1,500 (US$215) a tonne in parts of Shanxi.
By staff writer
