Rising costs, weak demand, excess capacity harm local industry

One of China's leading commodities information portals has issued a stark warning on the state of the country's coal industry.

Sublime China Information Co Ltd, which runs the commodities website, www.sci99.com, says the industry continues to suffer from dramatic falls in prices and weak demand, caused by domestic overcapacity and growing imports.

Liu Dongna, an analyst at Sublime, said that since last year the industry's profits have been "seriously affected" by China's economic slowdown, excessive production capacity and increasing new energy applications.