The fall came in response to a 2.1% reduction in electricity demand for the month and is linked to Japan's economic troubles, a Singapore-based analyst told Dow Jones. The fall in consumption was concentrated among large industrial users.
Coal consumption rose during the first 10 months of 2001 as Japanese generators switched to coal from oil and gas, climbing 11%, or 5.1Mt, over the same period of 2000.
However, the trend toward greater coal consumption is likely to wane this year as prices of competing fuels fall.
Japan's utility coal stocks stood at 6.5Mt in October, up from 5.8Mt the previous October, according to official statistics.
