The company blamed low coal prices for the weaker results but expects average coal prices to increase 15% from $16.40/t to $18.90/t this year.

Yanzhou expects sales to improve in 2001, particularly as it has already received orders for 33.2mt, up 25% from orders in 2000. Of this, sales to the domestic market will exceed 20Mt. The company also plans to export 13.2Mt of coal this year.

Yanzhou Coal owns and operates the Nantun, Xinglongzhuang, Baodian, Dongtan and the Jining II and III coal mines.

According to Dow Jones, Yanzhou Coal plans to merge with companies which have a "substantial size, market share and earning power," said director Yang Jiachun. It claims Yanzhou plans to acquire coal mines with an operating scale comparable to Jining III, a coal mine it acquired last year. Jining III began commercial production last December and produced 1.32mt of raw coal in the Q1 2001.

In related news, Chinese coal exports reportedly rose 58.4% in the 2001 first quarter, compared with the same period last year.