Jan 11 2010
Coal Mine Followup
Just saw two pieces of news – “浙商发布投资黑名单惹争议 山西因煤改位居榜首”, “发改委、能源局通报山西省煤矿企业兼并重组成果”
The essence of the news is that in Shanxi, the tide has shifted. The government has undertaken policy changes to force industry consolidation. So much so that private capital starts to lose interest in this strategic industry.
According to Xinhua-
整合重组后，山西省矿井数由２６００座减少到１０５３座，７０％的矿井规模达到年产９０万吨以上，年产３０万吨以下的 小煤矿全部淘汰，平均单井规模由年产３０万吨提高到年产１００万吨以上，保留矿井将全部实现机械化开采。产业集中度明显提高，企业主体由２２００多家减少 到１３０家，形成４个年生产能力亿吨级的特大型煤炭集团、３个年生产能力５０００万吨级以上的大型煤炭集团。
Since this is the field where I ended my study on, it was really exciting to hear the good news. And I am kind surprised the change comes much earlier than I anticipated. It is really uplifting.
Of course, I don’t think the book is totally close shut. I still have questions about how the consolidation was financed, or was it by fiat? If it was financed by State money (national banks), this is a good case to show why, sometimes, “crowding out” private capital may not be a bad thing at all.
So much has changed after I wrote the paper. I wonder how I would write it now if I were given the chance.