BEIJING (AP) - Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet official energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark.

In the northeastern city of Liaoyang, 23 people were hospitalized with gas poisoning after ventilation in a metal casting factory was shut off following a power outage, according to state broadcaster CCTV. No deaths were reported.

Factories were idled to avoid exceeding limits on energy use imposed by Beijing to promote efficiency. Economists and an environmental group say manufacturers used up this year's quota faster than planned as export demand rebounded from the coronavirus pandemic.

A components supplier for Apple Inc.'s iPhones said it suspended production at a factory west of Shanghai under orders from local authorities.

The disruption to China's vast manufacturing industries during one of their busiest seasons reflects the ruling Communist Party's struggle to balance economic growth with efforts to rein in pollution and emissions of climate-changing gases.

“Beijing's unprecedented resolve in enforcing energy consumption limits could result in long-term benefits, but the short-term economic costs are substantial,” Nomura economists Ting Lu, Lisheng Wang and Jing Wang said in a report Monday.

They said the impact might be so severe that they cut their economic growth forecast for China to 4.7% from 5.1% over a year earlier in the current quarter. They cut their outlook for annual growth to 7.7% from 8.2%.

Global financial markets already were on edge about the possible collapse of one of China's biggest real estate developers, Evergrande Group, which is struggling to avoid a default on billions of dollars of debt.

Manufacturers already face shortages of processor chips, disruptions in shipping and other lingering effects of the global shutdown of travel and trade to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Residents of China's northeast, where autumn temperatures are falling, report power cuts and appealed on social media for the government to restore supplies.

The crunch comes as global leaders prepare to attend a U.N. environmental conference by video link on Oct. 12-13 in the southwestern city of Kunming. That increases pressure on President Xi Jinping's government, as the meeting's host, to show it is sticking to emissions and energy efficiency targets.

China is one of the world's biggest emitters of climate-changing industrial gases and consumes more energy per unit of economic output than developed countries.

The ruling party also is preparing for the Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital, Beijing, and the nearby city of Shijiazhuang in February, a period when it will want clear blue skies.

Scores of companies have announced power rationing could force them to delay filling orders and might hurt them financially.

Apple components supplier Eson Precision Engineering Co. Ltd. said Sunday it would halt production at its factory in Kunshan, west of Shanghai, through Thursday “in line with the local government's power restriction policy.”

Eson said the suspension shouldn't have a “significant impact” on operations.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a question about the possible impact on iPhone supplies.

China's energy consumption and industrial emissions have surged as manufacturers rush to fill foreign demand at a time when competitors elsewhere still are hampered by anti-coronavirus controls.

China's economy is “more driven by exports than any time in the past decade,” but official energy use targets fail to take that into account, economists Larry Hu and Xinyu Ji of Macquarie Group said in a report.

Some provinces used up most of their quotas for energy consumption in the first half of the year and are cutting back to stay under their limits, according to Li Shuo, a climate policy expert at Greenpeace in Beijing.

Utility companies, meanwhile, are being squeezed by soaring coal and gas prices. That discourages them from increasing output because the government limits their ability to pass on costs to customers, said Li.

Prices have risen “past the range of what China's electricity industry can bear,” Li said.

China has launched repeated campaigns to make its energy-hungry economy more efficient and clean up smog-choked cities.

City skies are visibly clearer, but the abrupt way the campaigns are carried out disrupts supplies of power, coal and gas, leaving families shivering in unheated homes and forcing factories to shut down.

Shopping malls in the northeastern city of Harbin have announced they will close stores earlier than usual to save power.

In Guangdong province in the south, the government told the public to set thermostats on air conditioners higher even as temperatures rose above 34 degrees C (93 degrees F).

State Grid Corp., the world's biggest power distributor, issued a pledge to ensure adequate supplies.

Meanwhile, state media say local governments have signed long-term coal contracts to ensure adequate suppliers.

Soo reported from Singapore. AP writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

EXPLAINER: What is behind China’s power crunch?


Reuters | September 27, 2021 

Dust-up in the coal trade. Stock Image.

China is in the grip of a power crunch as a shortage of coal supplies, toughening emissions standards and strong demand from manufacturers and industry have pushed coal prices to record highs and triggered widespread curbs on usage.

How long has there been a power supply problem in China?

Restrictions on power use in homes have only just taken effect. However, China’s massive industrial base has been wrestling with sporadic jumps in power prices and usage curbs since at least March, when provincial authorities in Inner Mongolia ordered some heavy industry including an aluminum smelter to curb use so that the province could meet its energy use target for the first quarter.




In May, manufacturers in the southern province of Guangdong, a major exporting powerhouse, encountered similar requests to curb consumption as a combination of hot weather and lower than usual hydropower generation strained the grid.

Other major industrial zones along China’s east coast have also encountered recent consumption caps and power cuts.
What are China’s energy use targets and why do they exist?

China’s President Xi Jinping announced in late 2020 at a United Nations summit on climate change that the country would cut its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product, or carbon intensity, by more than 65% from 2005 levels by 2030.

As the world’s top producer of carbon dioxide and other polluting gases, China’s ability to cut emissions is seen as critical in the global fight against climate change.

Xi also pledged sharp increases in renewable energy capacity at the summit, but his carbon intensity targets have been the most closely followed guidelines for emissions reduction since, especially at the provincial level where local authorities have the responsibility of making sure the targets are reached.
Has energy use declined since Xi announced those goals?

According to the country’s main planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), only 10 out of 30 mainland Chinese regions achieved their energy reduction targets in the first six months of 2021.

In response to that collective overshoot, the NDRC announced in mid-September tougher punishments for regions that fail to meet their targets, and said it would hold local officials to account for limiting absolute energy demand in their regions.
Has China produced less power in 2021 due to targets?

China’s total power generation through August of 2021 was actually 10.1% greater than in the same period in 2020, and nearly 15% more than in the same slot in 2019 as utilities across the country cranked up power to meet surging industrial demand.


However, along with the higher power generation came higher toxic emissions, which surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of the year.
How are regions limiting power for certain users?

Local governments in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces have asked factories to limit power usage or curb output.

Some power providers have sent notices to heavy users to either halt production during peak power periods that can run from 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., or shut operations entirely for two to three days a week.


Others have been told to shut until further notice or a particular date, including soybean processing plants in Tianjin in eastern China which have been shut since Sept. 22.
Which industries have been impacted by the power shortages?

The impact on industries is broad and includes power-intensive sectors like aluminum smelting, steel-making, cement manufacturing and fertiliser production.

At least 15 listed Chinese firms that produce a range of materials and goods – from aluminum and chemicals to dyes and furniture – have reported that their production has been disrupted by power curbs.

Residential users have also been hit, with households in parts of northeast China told to limit use of water heaters and microwaves to conserve power.
What has been Beijing’s response to the power crunch?

The NDRC said on Friday it will work to resolve the power shortages, but did not provide any specific details on what steps it would take.

One major near-term challenge for Beijing is its ongoing trade dispute with Australia, the world’s second-largest coal exporter, which has greatly curbed coal shipments to China just as local authorities stepped up safety standards that have slowed production at Chinese coal mines following a series of accidents.

Another factor is a global shortage of natural gas, as a number of major economies look to stock up on the fuel simultaneously following the easing of covid-19 restrictions.

Even so, the State Grid Corporation of China said on Monday it would “go all out to fight the battle of guaranteeing power supply” to customers and would dispatch more power across its network.

(By Shivani Singh, Min Zhang and Tom Daly; Editing by Gavin Maguire and Susan Fenton)

China energy crunch triggers alarm, pleas for more coal

David Stanway
Mon., September 27, 2021

FILE PHOTO: A man walks near a coal-fired power plant in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China

By David Stanway

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - As a severe power crunch roils China's northeastern industrial heartland, senior officials face mounting pressure from alarmed citizens to ramp up coal imports thick and fast in order to keep lights on, factories open and even water supplies flowing.

With electricity shortages sparked by scant coal supply crippling large sections of industry, the governor of Jilin province, one of the hardest hit in the world's no.2 economy, called for a surge in coal imports, while a power company association said supply was being expanded "at any cost".

News organisations and social media carried reports and posts saying the lack of power in the northeast had shut down traffic lights, residential elevators and 3G mobile phone coverage as well as triggering factory shutdowns. A utility in Jilin even warned power shortages could disrupt water supplies at any time, before apologising for causing alarm.

Cities such as Shenyang and Dalian - home to more than 13 million people - have been affected, with disruption at factories owned by suppliers to global companies like Apple and Tesla. Jilin is one of more than 10 provinces that have been forced to ration power as generators feel the heat of soaring coal prices that they can't pass on to consumers.

Speaking to local power firms on Monday, Han Jun, the governor of Jilin province, with a population of close to 25 million people, said "multiple channels" needed to be set up to guarantee coal supplies, and China should source more from Russia, Mongolia and Indonesia.

Han said the province would also urgently dispatch special teams to secure supply contracts in the neighbouring region of Inner Mongolia, according to the province's official WeChat social media account.

Goldman Sachs estimated that as much as 44% of China's industrial activity has been affected by power shortages, potentially causing a 1-percentage point decline in annualised GDP growth in the third quarter, and a 2-percentage point drop from October to December.

It said in a note published on Tuesday that it was cutting its 2021 GDP growth forecast for China to 7.8%, from the previous 8.2%.

'AT ANY COST'

The power crunch has taken hold as a shortage of coal supplies, toughening greenhouse gas emissions standards and strong demand from industry have pushed coal prices to peaks - China's thermal coal futures climbed 7% by 0500GMT on Tuesday to a record 1,324 yuan ($204.76) per tonne.

Rationing has been implemented during peak hours in many parts of northeastern China since last week, triggering state media reports of power supply disruptions in many cities and stoking concern among the country's avid social media users.

As some shops in the northeast operated by candlelight and malls shut early, posts on China's Twitter-like Weibo service expressed concern about water after a public utility in Jilin warned users that power shortages could hit supplies at any time.

Jilin governor Han urged companies to fulfil their "social responsibilities" and "overcome the difficulties" caused by coal price rises.

The China Electricity Council, which represents the country's power suppliers, said in a note on Monday that coal-fired power companies were now "expanding their procurement channels at any cost" in order to guarantee winter heat and electricity supplies.

It said China needed to increase the production and supply of coal while guaranteeing safety and environmental protection. More medium- and long-term contracts needed to be signed to raise power plant inventories ahead of winter.

Coal traders noted finding fresh import sources may be easier said than done.

"Russia has to first meet demand from Europe, Japan and South Korea," said one northeast China based trader. "Indonesia's export shipments have been curbed by rainy weather the last couple of months and Mongolia's exports, mostly by trucks, are small."

David Fishman, China energy policy researcher and manager at the Lantau Group consultancy, said flaws in China's pricing system were ultimately to blame for the current shortages.

"In the short term, the only relief policies that make sense are digging more coal out of the ground, which is bound to be an unpopular idea, or make end-users pay more for their power," Fishman said.

Policymakers had previously warned that China needed to build more coal plants in order to offset potential power shortages over the 2021-2025 period, but utilisation rates at existing plants remain low.

Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst with the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, said northeast China currently had 100 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity, which would be more than enough to meet demand if plants had the incentive to buy more coal.

"Not a single grid region has reported peak loads that would be even close to exhausting available generating capacity," he said.

(Reporting by David Stanway; Additional reporting by Chen Aizhu in Singapore; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)