Lu'an plans to produce 55 mln tonnes coal in 09

Lu'an Group, one of five largest coal producers in Shanxi, said it will work to produce over 55 million tonnes of coal in 2009, up 31 percent from the previous year.

Lu'an Group produced 42 million tonnes of raw coal in 2008, and realized sales income of 35 billion yuan and profit 3.2 billion yuan, ranking the 104th place in the country's top 500 enterprises.

The group expects sales income and profit to rise further in 2009.

On Dec 22, 2008, the group successfully produced the first barrel of oil from coal at its 160,000-tonne coal-to-oil demonstration project, the first of its kind in China.