Inner Mongolia, a crucial energy hub in China, saw notable shifts in coke production capacity in CY’23. As of the end of the previous year, operational coke production capacity in the region stood at 56.39 million tonnes per annum (mntpa), marking a decrease of 6.2 mnt per annum compared to the previous year but an increase of 14.1 mnt per annum compared to CY19, according to Fenwei’s monitoring data.
The Inner Mongolia government embarked on a plan to gradually reduce coke production capacity from CY21 to CY23, with most closures slated for CY23.
In the previous year, the region decommissioned 12.35 mnt per annum of coking capacity, with 9.45 mnt per annum in Wuhai city and its environs and the remaining 3.5 mnt per annum elsewhere, as per Fenwei’s data.
From January to February’24, Inner Mongolia saw a net increase of 1.35 mnt per annum in coke production capacity, while 2.0 mnt per annum were shut down. Fenwei anticipates that the newly added capacity will match the closures for the current year.
The local government has implemented a comprehensive set of policies to regulate and reduce coking capacity in recent years. It has urged strict control over the expansion of coking facilities and mandated capacity and energy consumption reductions for any new construction projects within the region.
Additionally, 4.3-meter coke ovens and coking projects with capacities below 1 mnt per annum were mandated to be phased out entirely by CY23.
On 26 March’21, Inner Mongolia had announced plans to close 36 coke ovens with a chamber height below 5.5 meters by CY23, totalling 17.05 mnt per annum in capacity.