Coal trading center development in China: A study of opportunities, value and service —A perspective of steam coal trading

China relies on coal to fuel its economy, coal accounts for more than 70 per cent of all the energy consumed, coal will remain the predominant fuel well into the next century. The huge demand and coal marketization reform in China stimulate the development of coal trading center who has achieved dramatic increases over the past ten years. This paper analyses the evolution and trading pattern of China steam coal trade from the 1950s to the present years, identifies some of the problems. It investigates the opportunities and driving factors of steam coal trading center in China. It can be find that coal trading center will continue to expand and become a more important coal trading pattern in replacing the conventional trading one. Then the value of coal trading center has been described. Finally the paper identifies the coal trading center should be service dominated and present 3 possible business.