Ukraine war helps China's coal addiction stack up
2022-06-03 08:45:38

June 2, 20229:08 AM GMT+7Last Updated 9 hours ago

HONG KONG, June 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Russia’s war on Ukraine is blackening China’s decarbonisation drive. President Xi Jinping’s administration is ramping up domestic output to avoid power cuts, embracing the fossil fuel more tightly as wealthy nations bid aggressively to replace Moscow’s natural gas supplies. It’s a rational financial choice for the top polluter.

Europe’s scramble for alternatives to Russian gas is causing global prices to soar, diverting shipments from Asia. April imports of liquified natural gas (LNG) into Europe and Turkey jumped 20% from the previous month to a record 11.59 million metric tons, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. Buyers are shunning Russia’s piped supply and those from Poland and elsewhere are being cut off for refusing to pay in roubles. The benchmark front-month gas contract hit around 87 euros/MWh on Tuesday, up about 250% compared to May 2021.

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/ukraine-war-helps-chinas-coal-addiction-stack-up-2022-06-02/