Power shortages in China, which relies on coal for more than 70 percent of its electricity, may escalate this summer as fuel costs rise and the government caps utility prices, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said in a note on Wednesday. About 20 regions have started rationing power, Xinhua News Agency reported. Coal stockpiles at ports have dropped to an 11-month low, according to the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association, after imports shrank 26 percent in the first quarter.
"It has become profitable again to import," said Huang Teng, general manager at Beijing LT Consultant Ltd and a former coal trader at the State-owned China National Coal Group in an interview. "We will probably see an increase in imports reflected in official data for May."
