Japan to close last coal mine

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Sounds like Japan will be totally dependent on foreign fossil fuel sources. The Saudis gave them a scare last year by threatening to not renew some lease program (don't recall where that ended up).

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/009/world/Japan_s_last_coal_mine_to_clos:.shtml

Japan's last coal mine to close, throwing 1,000 people out of work

By Associated Press, 1/9/2002 01:36

TOKYO (AP) Miners in northern Japan boarded a tram for their final descent into the nation's last coal mine Wednesday, ending more than 80 years of operation and throwing 1,000 people out of work.

Taiheiyo Coal Mine Co. on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido will officially close the mine on Jan. 30, the company said.

Domestically produced coal helped Japan limit its reliance on foreign imports and aided the nation's recovery from the devastation of World War II. But declining output and cheaper imports from countries such as Australia and China have hurt profits and forced companies to shutter their mines.

While the company will fire 1,000 people on Jan. 30, the spokesman said the mine's operator will reorganize under a different name and continue operating for now. Some employees will be called back to harvest the remaining coal and transfer technology to other mining countries.

Japan's production of coal fell from a peak of 56 million tons in 1940 to just 3 million tons in 2000, according to the Trade Ministry. The government's decision to end subsidies for domestically produced coal after the fiscal year that ends March 31 was expected to further hurt profits.

The Taiheiyo Coal Mine established in 1920 became Japan's last operating coal mine in November, when the Ikeshima mine in southwestern Nagasaki state closed. The Taiheiyo mine produced about 2.6 million tons of coal at its peak in 1977, but harvested just 1.23 million tons in 2001, the company spokesman said.

The company posted a negative net worth the amount by which liabilities exceed assets of 4.4 billion yen in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2001, Kyodo News Agency said.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002


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