For coming to the interim announcement for 2025 China Coal Energy, this meeting is for all investors. Please, take the market with a rational approach, and we will have a Q&A session after the presentation. Now we'll have Mr. Jiang Cheng kick off the meeting.
Distinguished investors and analysts, good afternoon. My name is Jiang Cheng, Board Secretary of China Coal Energy. I welcome all of you to today's meeting. The attendees from China Coal are as follows: Executive Director and President Mr. Zhang Rongzhe, Ms. Zhang Yanjing, Independent Non-Executive Director, and representatives and responsible persons from the Securities Affairs Department, Planning and Development Department, Finance Department, Coal Business Division, Chemical Business Division, Power and New Energy Division, and Marketing Management Office. We sincerely thank you for all your long-term support for the company.
Firstly, I will talk to you about the performance of the first half and the work arrangements for the second half. Unless otherwise specified, the following data are prepared in accordance with the Chinese accounting standards. Firstly, I'll be talking to you about the performance and the characteristics in the first half of this year. During this period, China Coal Energy resolutely implemented the decisions and the deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council and adhered to the strategy of improving efficiency for existing business and transforming new business. We responded to difficulties and steadily advanced a high-quality development. According to the Chinese accounting standards, operating revenue was RMB 74.44 billion, total profit was RMB 11.94 billion, down 28.6% year-over-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 7.7 billion, down 21.3% year-over-year. Basic earnings per share were RMB 0.58, down 21.6%.
Under international accounting standards, operating revenue was RMB 74.44 billion, profit before tax was RMB 11.6 billion, down 35.5% year-over-year. Profit attributable to distributors was RMB 7.325 billion, down 31.5%. Basic EPS was RMB 0.55, down 31.8%. Here are our characteristics for the first half of this year. Firstly, we efficiently organized the production and continuously strengthened production-sales coordination. We focused on optimizing production layout and 40-year-old issued high-quality mining capacity, produced 67.34 million tons of commercial coal and increased 0.84 million tons, or 1.3% year-over-year. By focusing on maintaining market share and fulfilling long-term contracts, we actively adjusted marketing strategies, optimized resource allocation, precisely responded to market changes, and effectively withstood downward pressures. Self-produced commercial coal sales were 67.11 million tons, up 120,000 tons, or 1.4% year-over-year.
The company efficiently coordinated safe production with equipment overhauls, producing 2.88 million tons of key coal chemical products and an increase of 61,000 tons or 2.1%. We continued to optimize production structure, product structure, and sales, rather, sales of key coal chemicals, total 3.166 million tons, and an increase of 83,000 tons, or 2.7% year-over-year. We dynamically optimized the product structure, deepened the standard cost management, and did comprehensive benchmarking to uncover cost savings opportunities across the process. The unit sales cost of self-produced commercial coal was CNY 262.97 per ton, down CNY 30, or 10.2% year-over-year. Key reductions came from optimized production organization, lowering material costs by CNY 5.9 per ton, rational wage control, reducing labor costs by RMB 6.09 per ton, increased use of safety and maintenance funds, lowering other costs by RMB 25.31 per ton. However, depreciation, amortization, transportation port charges, and outsourced mining engineering fees increased by CNY 9.22 per ton year-over-year.
We focused on the goal of safe, stable, long-term full capacity and optimal, and strengthened equipment management, optimized plant operations, and reasonably controlled costs and expenditures. Unit sales costs of major products remained stable. Specifically, unit sales costs for polyolefins rose to CNY 6,431 per ton, up CNY 565 per ton, due to planned overhauls. Unit sales costs for urea and methanol fell CNY 162 per ton and CNY 401 per ton, respectively, due to lower raw and fuel coal prices. Unit sales costs for ammonium nitrate rose RMB 81 per ton due to reduced byproduct income offsets. In the first half, prices for our coal and coal chemicals declined with the rest of the market. Average sales price of self-produced commercial coal was CNY 470 per ton, down CNY 114 per ton, down 19.5%. Thermal coal was CNY 436 per ton, down 14.7%. Coking coal was CNY 885 per ton, down CNY 486, or 35.4%.
Proprietary trading coal was CNY 472 per ton, down CNY 131, or 21.7%. Polyolefins sold at CNY 6,681 per ton, down CNY 274, or 3.9%. Urea was CNY 1,756 per ton, down CNY 411, or 19%. Methanol was CNY 1,770 per ton, down CNY 3, or 0.2%. Ammonium nitrate at CNY 1,883 per ton, down CNY 295, or 13.5%. Despite falling coal prices and significantly lower industry profitability, the company maintained stable operations and achieved a total profit of RMB 11.94 billion. Main profit increasing factors include the following: lower unit sales cost of self-produced commercial coal boosted profit by RMB 2.044 billion. Taxes and surcharges were RMB 537 million less. Expenses were down RMB 384 million. Increased sales of self-produced commercial coal added RMB 265 million. Power business added RMB 208 million. Impairment provisions were down RMB 153 million. Profit decreasing factors include the following: lower self-produced commercial coal prices cut profit by CNY 7.639 billion. Lower chemical prices and plant maintenance reduced profit by RMB 774 million.
In the first half, the company actively strengthened cash flow management with a cash collection ratio of 110.1%, a decline 7.2 percentage points less than the revenue drop. Asset to liability ratio was 45%, down 1.3 percentage points from the beginning of this year, reflecting improved financial structure. Five accelerating key project construction advancing the two joint ventures. In the first half, construction of Libi coal mine and Weizigou coal mine progressed smoothly. The Wushenqi 2x660 MW coal power integration project commenced smoothly. The civil construction for the 900,000-ton Phase II polyolefin project in Yuling, Shaanxi was essentially completed. Construction accelerated for the 100,000-ton Liquid Sunshine demo project in Tuke, and the 100 MW Phase III PV project in Pingshuo. The antibiotic low-calorific coal power project achieved nearly RMB 100 million of profit in the first half.
Pingshuo Phase I, Phase II, and Shanghai Energy Phase II were all connected to the grid. Six actively rewarding investors with the continued interim dividends. Since its listing, the company has distributed over RMB 40 billion in cash dividends, balancing shareholder interests with sustainable development of the company. For 2025, the interim dividend ratio remains the same as 2024, with a proposed cash dividend of RMB 2.198 billion, or RMB 0.166 per share, tax included. This is expected to be fully distributed by the end of October 2024, rather than 2025. Now I'm going to talk to you about the key work arrangements for the second half. The company will continue to implement decisions of the Party Central Committee, State Council, and CSAC, adhering to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, firmly committed to high-quality development goals. First, we will strengthen product production-sales coordination to achieve annual production and sales targets.
Second, we will keep enhancing lean management and cost control to maintain a decent level of profitability. Third, we will improve our capabilities to reinvent ourselves and accelerate key project build-out and lay a solid foundation for a good start to the 15th five-year plan. Fourth, we will advance reform initiatives to unleash internal drive and innovation vitality. Fifth, we will keep implementing the innovation-driven strategy to build new productive forces with China Coal characteristics. Sixth, we will strengthen penetrative supervision to safeguard high-quality development of the company. Seventh, we will keep enhancing corporate governance and information disclosure, deepen investor communication, and maintain a positive image in capital markets. Distinguished investors and analysts, the company's management and all employees will remain confident, work diligently, and continue promoting high-quality development and strive to deliver better results to reward all shareholders and investors. Thank you all for listening. Now we will go to the Q&A session and answer your questions as much as we can. Thank you.
Thank you very much for that presentation. Now we are at the Q&A session. Please raise your hands or leave your questions in text form to ask your questions. Thank you.
Hello, everyone. If you have a question, please press star and one if you join by a phone line. If you join online, you can use the chat box to type in your question, or you can use the raise hand function to ask your question by voice. Press star and then one on the phone to ask your question, or you can type your question in the chat box or use the raise hand function and unmute yourself to ask your question. Phone number ending in 2083, please state your affiliation and name. Go ahead.
Thank you very much, distinguished leaders. I'm Chen Jian from CICC. Congratulations on achieving such good results while the coal prices are dropping. I have two questions. The first question is regarding changes in supply and its impact on coal prices going forward. You have done a very good job managing your costs. The first question is regarding the impact on prices from cracking. For the second half, how would you comment on your cost management?
Answer. Mr. Chai will be answering the question regarding coal prices.
We have seen another drop in prices. There was a recovery in mid-June as of 28th of August . It was level. Over that one month, the prices rose from CNY 61- CNY 703 per ton. I think that was within the expectation of the market. Overall, our judgment is this. Spot prices are now RMB 600-something. It was actually beyond the expectation of the regulators.
According to the judgment of the regulators in 2019, the average prices should be RMB 675. January through June, the overall production volume was up by 5.4% and imports were about 300 million tons. The increase was close to 100 million tons. The increase has also exceeded expectations, and that has led to the drop in prices directly. Going forward, we have seen notices and notifications from the regulators. It is not just about simply defense, right? We have seen the willingness from the central government. We have seen regulations regarding productions and caps and limitations on productions imposed. Going forward, I think the long-term prices will be RMB 675. Spot prices will be around RMB 700. That will be within the expectation for both the supply and the demand side. Inventory this year is still on the rise. Import plus production, domestic production was more than 100 million more.
The total inventory in the market is about 30 million tons. Supply this year is still pretty loose. It hasn't really changed from last year. I think stabilizing is the overall trend. I will stop here.
Thank you very much, Mr. Li. Regarding the question about the costs, our Ms. Du from our finance department will answer that question.
The sales cost was down by 10%, RMB 30 per ton. This was because we deepened cost management, including things like procurement and bidding. We kept optimizing the cost management. The material cost was down by RMB 5.9 per ton. We also controlled our wages. That was RMB 6 down. We also reduced the usage of the relevant funds. That was RMB 25 per ton down for the overall year. For the second half, especially Q4, there will be some overhauls and maintenance. The wages will be higher in Q4.
There will be some additional investments as well. Overall cost will be higher for Q4. We'll continue to enhance our measures and try to maintain the formation levels for the overall year.
Mr. Chen, do you have anything else to add?
It was super clear. Thank you very much for your answers.
Phone number ending in 1791. Please state your name and affiliation before you ask your question. Thank you. Go ahead.
Thank you, distinguished leaders. My name is Wan Tao. I'm a coal analyst from Oriental Wealth Securities. I have two questions regarding the prices of thermal coal. I understand that the proportion of your long-term contracts is pretty high compared to all listed coal companies. Q2 compared to Q1, thermal coal prices actually dropped bigger than long-contract coal, but less than spot coal.
With the proportion of long-term contracts not changing much, did you give some more profits to your suppliers in order to keep this proportion of long-term contracts? Second is this acquisition project, the Shanghai deal, and you were one of the buyers or acquirers. Do you have any updates on that deal and relevant assets?
Thank you very much for your question. Mr. Li will tackle the first question.
Regarding the prices of long-term contract coal, the discrepancy there, we think there's two reasons, two causes. The data you quoted was pretty accurate. January through June, long-term contract coal price drop was not very much. It was about 3.6%, so RMB 25 down. The recovery started in June. Spot prices were down by almost 11%. Fulfillment dropped in June and picked up in July. There were no fundamental changes to our long-term contract play.
When the market changes, the group did some changes to the metrics and the structure of a spot versus a long-term contract. The slopes were slightly different. The quality of coal improved. For spot coal, the prices dropped slightly. I think that was the main reason. We did not deliberately try to give more profits to our suppliers because everything is under very strict scrutiny by the regulators. We have been adhering to the requirements from the NDRC.
Thank you.
For the second question, our company, Shanghai, acquired relevant assets from coal and other business lines. It was a pretty big deal and caused some reactions in the capital markets. We paid attention to this deal. China Coal Energy still has some assets when it comes to coal and coal power.
These assets, we do not exclude the possibility of giving these assets to China Coal Energy or having them spun off in the capital markets as separate entities. We do not exclude these possibilities. If it materializes, we will disclose the relevant information. Right now, we don't have any such plans.
Sounds good. Thank you very much for your answers. We have been tracking your development. We saw that over the long term, your image in the capital markets has been very decent. I wish all the best for all of you. Thank you. That ended my question.
Phone number ending in 6402. Please state your name and affiliation before you make a comment. Thank you. Hello, everyone. I'm Wan Zhizhen from Mingshan Securities.
Congratulations on achieving such good results for the first half of this year. I have two questions.
Firstly, when we look at the profitability for your subsidiaries without quant mining, it improved 50% compared to last year. Why is that? Second, for Dahaize mining, it's also expanding the channels. I would like to ask what the sales structure was like before for Dahaize. Were changes made to it this year?
Thank you. Mr. Li will be talking to you about the sales network, and my other colleagues are looking into the other question.
Thank you very much for paying attention to Dahaize sales.
There was a limitation factor to its production. It's primarily direct shipment by rail. That accounts for almost 70% of its total sales. The rest is about 20-something % because it's direct sales, direct shipment by rail. Dahaize sales experienced some difficulties for the first half. Based on this, we were trying to address it. We were trying to expand its channels.
Now the channel is already available. This channel only serves as a complement. It won't be a major channel.
Thank you, Mr. Li. Regarding Wuda, the question regarding Wuda.
Profitability actually improved for Wuda because we did a good job of managing the costs for 25. Volume was pretty good this year. There was a slight uptick. There was a cost reduction. Cost reduction was more than there was a price decline. That's why the profitability improved.
Understood. Thank you very much. That was it for my questions.
Phone number ending in 9990. Please state your name and affiliation before you make a comment. Thank you.
Hello, can you guys hear me?
Yes, we can. Go ahead.
I'm Ji Yun from Tianfeng Securities.
I have a few questions for you. For Wangjialing Mine, there was a stoppage because of the accident. What happened after that? Is everything back to normal?
For polyolefin overhaul, is the equipment back to normal? What's your take on or estimate on coal prices for Q4? Thank you.
Regarding Wangjialing Coal Mine, Mr. Wan from the Coal Business Department will answer that question.
Investigation has finished and production has resumed. Regarding polyolefin, Mr. Zhang will take that question from the Chemicals Department.
Two companies were involved. The Shaanxi Company overhaul started on May 10. It was 37 days of overhaul. The other company started overhaul on June 16 and resumed on July 28. Both overhauls have finished. Production has resumed.
Coal prices for Q4, in Ping, could you talk briefly about it?
As I mentioned earlier, for thermal coal prices for the second half, we already talked about, it's kind of stabilized. Long-term contract prices will be RMB 690. Spot prices will be about slightly over RMB 700 per ton, barring any accidents or incidents.
Each year after September, coal prices, coal will enter a pretty stable supply-demand equilibrium. Some volatility will be observed in October and November typically. This year, supply is kind of on the strong side. We don't think there will be a big volatility to the prices. You mentioned Wangjialing. For metallurgy coal, there was a jump of RMB 300- RMB 400 per ton. Our overall judgment is this. For steel and metallurgy, there's not a whole lot of incentives or demand coming online. There's no structural changes. Imported coal came down by 7.5% as opposed to the overall decline of 11%. Some metallurgy coal companies are producing metallurgy coal pretty stably. We don't see a huge jump for the second half. That was internal factors. As for external factors, we don't see any significant drivers. We believe for metallurgy coal, coking coal might be RMB 1,500- RMB 1,600.
It will be around that range, RMB 1,500, RMB 1,600, or RMB 1,300 and RMB 1,400. Not much volatility there.
Thank you very much. That was it for my question. Thank you so much.
Now we have a question from the web portal. There are two questions. First question is, when will the peak of the investments end? CapEx for the first half was a 32% increase. Why is that? Mr. Yang will take that question.
For 2025, RMB 6.972 billion was invested as of June. January through June, we already completed 92% of CapEx. That was 92% out of RMB 21.7 billion for the entire year, given our recent considerations and the decision-making. CapEx will be about RMB 20 billion for the next three years on average.
Thank you very much, Mr. Yang. Mr.
Yang referred to how our CapEx plan was impacted by the construction progress of different sites, including the schedule and climate. There is no monthly average. It has its own pace and cycle. The current progress has met the expectation and requirements. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Phone number ending in 7654, go ahead.
Hello, everyone. I'm Banxin Lu from Zhejiang Emergent Securities. We saw that your production volume increased, but there was a slippage in July. What was the reason for the slippage? Was it because of the relevant policies? What's your overall target for production this year? Second question is regarding coal chemicals. We saw some messages about anti-competition and how there might be a slowing of projects of polyolefin and other projects. How would that impact the profitability of your coal chemicals and how will that impact your CapEx plan going forward? Thank you.
Thank you.
Regarding the change in production volume in July, Mr. Wang will take that question from Coal Business Department.
There was an impact from Dahaize. Dahaize's volume is pretty high. As for our annual production target, it stays the same as what we set in the beginning of this year. It hasn't changed. I'm just going to add to that. Because of the accidents, production volume has been impacted. There was also an impact from weather conditions because we had to be compliant with the local regulators. Production volume was hit, but we are confident to reach our annual target set at the beginning of this year. Regarding coal chemicals, the slowing of methanol and the polyolefin projects is not going to have any impact on our profitability for coal chemicals. The policy, like you said, is to prevent further disorderly competition. It is part of the 15th five-year plan.
For new projects, there are two projects that are pertinent to us. Phase II in Shaanxi. For the Phase II in Yuling, Shaanxi, this policy will not have any impact on that project. There is another project, our methanol project. The preliminary work of that project has already commenced. We are waiting on further, clearer guidelines from the regulator before we proceed. That was my answer.
Sounds good. Thank you very much. That was it for my questioning. Thank you.
Phone number ending in 1683. Please state your name and affiliation before you ask your question.
I'm Fengli Chen from Shandong Industry Development Foundation. I have several questions, a couple of questions regarding coal chemicals. RMB 2.9 billion is the depreciation for chemicals for Phase I Yuling and the projects in Mongolia. They have been around for 10-something years now, around 10 years now.
When will the depreciation of the equipment for the chemicals be over? Will you be able to unleash depreciation profits? The maintenance fee was about RMB 1 billion . Will the repair costs go up significantly after that, or will you do complete replacements of the equipment?
Are you going to ask all your questions, or do we answer your questions one by one?
Okay, why don't we take that question first?
Mr. Du, could you answer the question regarding depreciation?
The depreciation period is about 20 years for chemicals equipment.
Question. Sorry, I didn't hear that clearly. Did you say 20 years of depreciation for the equipment?
Yes, yes.
Sorry, I didn't hear it clearly.
Okay, no worries. I will answer this. For coal chemicals main equipment, the depreciation period is 20 years. It is not completely depreciated yet. We still have some years left.
For housing and construction, you know, building, that period is 40 years. That is not going to impact what you are concerned about. You are concerned about our cost and the expenses after the depreciation period is over, right? As of now, 20 years of depreciation, we still have some years left, right? That is one. Second, for chemicals equipment usage and maintenance, after 20 years, the chemicals equipment, the maintenance costs are there compared to right now, or when the equipment is very new, there will definitely be an uptick in expenses and costs. That is inevitable. We will enhance management of the equipment and enhance things like overhaul and inspection and daily maintenance to stabilize our costs. That remains to be seen. We'll have to wait a few years later. Right now, depreciation is still ongoing.
Our main chemicals equipment is kind of in its optimal condition right now.
Okay, sounds good. Thank you. My second question is this. For Baofeng Energy, which is also a listed energy company, there's a strong trend of import substitution when it comes to equipment for coal chemicals. For new coal chemicals, unit investment value and unit energy consumption have come down by a lot. These two issues have been preliminarily addressed. For unit construction cost and unit, will you be able to achieve higher profitability compared to older projects going forward for chemicals projects?
Thank you for your question. We noticed the 3 million ton polyolefin project, how it started operations by Baofeng, and they used a lot of Chinese equipment. This is definitely a tailwind for the industry. For us, coal chemicals is one of our main business lines.
We'll definitely follow the trend and balance quality with profitability and lower our initial CapEx to improve profitability. That's something that we will definitely go after. We will be benchmarked against and learn from Baofeng's project. Sorry, one more thing. Our current chemicals projects actually learn from Shenhua's Baotou project. We actually made improvements on their projects.
Thank you. My third question is this. We know there's a lot of coal in Xinjiang, and the coal prices there are very low. I noticed that China Coal Energy invested in a lot of integrated projects there. Do you have any plans to go in there and invest in these coal and coal chemicals projects?
Answer. I made mention of this earlier. We only have some coal mining coal mines and coal chemicals projects there. China Coal Energy has some coal investments and also some power plants investments.
The China Coal Group is making other investments in Xinjiang. These assets might become part of China Coal Energy or might be spun off as separate entities. It's up to the management of China Coal Group. Right now, there's no such plans. In terms of whether coal chemicals, will there be more investments in Xinjiang? We don't exclude that possibility, but it comes down to a lot of things like vetting and approval.
Thank you.
Thank you for that question. We have a question from the web portal. Question is, so there's investments such as PV. Could you talk to us about the progress of these new projects, new type projects? Will they bring substantial contribution to your bottom line and top line? Zhang Long from Power New Energy Department will address that question. The interpreter is having a hard time hearing the answer.
We invested in some such projects, and we are pushing for various new energy projects. We've definitely grabbed the opportunities there.
Thank you for your answer. The next question is regarding how, in terms of cost control with low prices for the long term. Do you have any concrete cost control measures to offset the impact from low prices? Ms. Du from the Finance Department, please.
For the first half of this year, the speaker is barely audible. We pushed for cost management, and we further lowered our procurement costs. We also optimized our organizational structure. Material costs came down by RMB 5. Wages are in positive correlation with performance. We controlled wages. Labor costs came down by RMB 6 as well. We reduced the use of the relevant fund. The measures have proven very effective. We will continue to continue this effort of cost minimization.
The next question is regarding how coal, coal chemicals all came down. How are you going to address your strategy for different business lines? Are you going to prioritize a certain business line in order to cultivate a second curve or a third curve or something like that?
From the first half of this year, the revenue percentages of different business lines have maintained the same as before. Revenue came down from coal and coal chemicals. It was primarily due to the overall downward trend of prices. Right now, we're still focusing on coal and developing coal power and coal chemicals and relevant value chains. We're also trying to beef up our coal equipment business. There haven't been major changes to our strategy for now.
Thank you for that answer.
Number ending in 4090. Please state your name and affiliation before you make your comment. Thank you.
I'm Chen Chen from Gu Hai Securities. Congratulations on the very good result. You have outperformed your peers clearly. For cost, what was the major cost for you? You used your dedicated reserves, dedicated reserves of coal. Do you have more quota? For the RMB 5 billion, second question is for Shaanxi and Xinjiang, there's a lot of volumes coming out. You have coal mines there. What's the impact of the policies on your volume?
Could you repeat your second question? I didn't quite catch that.
The second question is regarding the policy.
Sorry, which policy? Oh, policy of surpassing the production quota, production body quota?
Yes.
Regarding the use of the dedicated foundation, Du will answer that question from the finance department.
Regarding dedicated reserves, it states 5 billion something in our financial statement. It should be actually RMB 6.7 billion .
There are dedicated scopes, so we have to be compliant. We'll definitely use this fund accordingly, in a compliant way. Regarding the second question, now there's more stringent inspection and control of production volumes of different coal companies. That's an overarching policy from the government. We have been impacted slightly, but the impact is not very severe. As a central SOE, we have to be compliant and legal. The impact I mentioned is because of this. For Dahaize Mine, the newly added production capacity is categorized as a contingency production capacity. For this part, should it be capped or limited? It actually merits more research and consideration. We're working with the relevant regulators to communicate effectively, communicate proactively with them. The work is ongoing. We have been impacted somewhat, but firstly, we have been always compliant.
For the contingency production capacity, will that be defined as something that we can actually tap into? We are in talks with regulators from different municipalities and provinces. That was my answer. Thank you.
Thank you. That was it for my questions. Thank you.
Phone number ending in 7372. Please state your name and affiliation. Thank you. Investor with a phone number ending in 7372. It's your turn.
My name is Xiao Bo in CITIC Securities. My question is regarding dividends. You are paying out your dividends according to the international accounting standards. Are you going to still use these standards to pay out dividends? How should we think about the overall dividends for the year? How will it compare with last year?
Thank you very much for your question. Everybody cares a lot about dividends, and that's all normal. This is what we should think about it.
We will not always stick to the international accounting standards. When we were listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, we basically decided that we will use the standards, basically whichever was lower, right? We would use that set of standards for dividend payout. That means we will not use international accounting standards each year as the yardstick, but there are more cases where international accounting standards result in lower dividends. We have actually used the Chinese accounting standards a couple of times. As for dividends payout for the rest of the year, we will still have to wait until the end of the year before the board can make a decision, be it now or before. We have heard your concerns and your voices, and you have requirements for us to raise our dividends. We will definitely hear you out and balance the company's long-term sustainable development and shareholder rewards.
We will definitely relay this message to our management. Thank you very much. That was it for me.
Question? Phone number ending in 9808. Go ahead.
Hello, everyone. I'm Liu Li from Guoshan Securities. I have a small question. We all know that the gas needs to be sucked out before the operations can start for the mine. When will the Weizigou and the Libi start operations and production? Where will we be able to see new production in the second half?
Answer. It's still going to be 2026 for the two mines, Libi and Weizigou. Mr. Wang will be talking to you about other projects.
For Weizigou and Libi, for 2026, other projects, other plans remain the same. For our CBEC company, we are doing engineering experiments right now. The purpose is to enhance our production capacity. There is an experiment going on right now.
An expected 15 million tons will be added to our overall production capacity as a result of the experiment. For some existing mines, the production capacity has been capped at 8 million tons. The potential capacity is at 12 million, 13 million. We're still doing the experiment. If the experiment achieves a very good effect, and if it's approved by China's Emergency Ministry, then we might be able to exceed that 10 million mark, but there is still uncertainty. Please keep that in mind. It's only a possibility. Everything comes down to the result of the experiment and the legal enforcement or legal departments. 2026 is going to be primarily Libi and Weizigou. These two will go into production, and that will be our main increments for production capacity. That's it for me.
Thank you so much for your answer.
Thanks.
For the interest of time, we're going to take one more investor.
Number ending in 6932. Go ahead.
I'm Du Fengchi from Haitong Securities. I have a question for you. For your ROI, it's flat compared to last year. The coal prices have come down. How have you managed to maintain the same level of ROI?
Our colleague from the finance department.
Last year there was a planned overhaul. This year there's overhaul as well, but there's a price drop. Profitability dropped because of the price drop.
There was some synergy among different value chains.
Understood. That was it for me. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your questions and for the answers from China Coal Energy. That was it for today's meeting. Now let's hear from the management to see what they have to say. Thank you very much for attending our announcement.
If you have any follow-up questions that we haven't gotten around to answering, feel free to reach out to our IR department and our Securities Affairs Department. We're always open to answering your questions. Thank you all.
That concludes today's meeting. Thank you. That concludes today's meeting. I wish you all the best. Thank you.