Greta weeps, John Kerry wrings his hands, Putin and Xi guffaw

“they fell for it, the suckers!”

China to import 100 million tons of coal from Russia

China is suffering from a massive coal shortage that has pressed Beijing to ramp up imports of the fuel from foreign countries, especially Russia, over the past year.

“China imported about 3.7 million tons of thermal coal from Russia in September [2021],” the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) reported in October 2021. “That’s up 28% from August [2021] and more than 230% higher than a year ago.”

China’s coal shortage is directly tied to the nation’s recent power outages, which have affected several provinces since May 2021. The state electric grid of China is powered largely through coal. A tight supply of the carbon-based fuel within China caused prices of the commodity to spike to record highs last year. The twin developments restricted the amount of coal available to Chinese state power plant operators, forcing both approved and unplanned electricity blackouts nationwide over a period of several months.

What burns in China doesn’t stay in China, you saps.