Despite the economic difficulties that have suppressed its economy over the past decade, Japan continues to increase its consumption of both thermal and coking coals. In 2002 Japan imported 159 mt of coal, up from 152 mt in 2001, making it by far the world’s largest coal importer.
But recently the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Investment approved the levy of an energy tax on coal that will add over US$5.00/t to delivered coal prices and has raised serious concerns about coal’s future in Japan’s energy mix. The main question underlying these doubts is the conflict between the economic benefits that coal provides to the Japanese economy versus Japan’s commitments to the environment....
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This complete item is approximately 2185 words in length, and appeared in the July/August 2003 issue of CoalTrans International, on page 17.
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