Ports in east China's Jiangsu Province witnessed a sharp growth of coal imports in the first four months of 2005, due largely to a decline in domestic output and insufficient transport capacity of rail roads at home.

Customs sources in this provincial capital said that Jiangsu ports registered import of 706,000 tons of coal from January to April, up 72.2 percent year-on-year.

The import value was nearly double that a year earlier for the four-month period, the customs sources added.

Shorter supply of domestically produced coal was resultant from state efforts to beef up work safety and stop overloaded production in the coal sector nationwide.

A tax holiday for coal import as of Jan. 1 this year also contributed to the growth in coal import arrivals, the sources said.

The demand for coal from energy gobblers, such as steel and building materials sectors, continued to rise, industry observers said.

Source: Xinhua