Monday, 20 April 2009

China Power Output Down 3.5% In Early April

The further decline indicates that consumption remains weak and further signs of economic recovery are yet to come.

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Guanyu said...

China Power Output Down 3.5% In Early April

The further decline indicates that consumption remains weak and further signs of economic recovery are yet to come.

Li Qiyan
20 April 2009

China’s daily power output was down 3.5 percent year-on-year in early April, according to data from the distribution centre of the State Grid Corp, China’s top power grid operator.

The further decline indicates that consumption remains weak and further signs of economic recovery are yet to come.

China’s power consumption in March fell 2 percent year-on-year to 283.4 billion kilowatt-hours, and dropped 4 percent in the first quarter to 781 billion kWh, according to data from the China Electricity Council.

Power output and consumption are closely linked to heavy industrial activity and are closely watched for signs of a pickup in manufacturing. Output has yet to recover from a decline that started in September, when the impact of the global economic slowdown began to kick in.

Guangdong province and Guangxi autonomous region in the south and northern China’s Shanxi and Inner Mongolia saw the biggest drop in power output, the data show.

A power analyst who asked not to be identified told Caijing that Guangdong’s falling power output was noteworthy. The province is China’s manufacturing hub and has been hard hit by a massive slowdown in exports.

“(Falling power output) does not rule out the possibility of a new round of economic slowdown,” the analyst said.

China’s economy grew just 6.1 percent in the first quarter.