China Shenhua Energy, the nation's largest coal producer, said strong domestic demand amid the country's soaring power consumption boosted its first-half profit by 19.8 per cent.

Net profit rose to 10.3 billion yuan for the six months ended June from 8.6 billion yuan a year ago while sales rose 29.8 per cent to 38.3 billion yuan. Earnings were slightly higher than a Bloomberg mean estimate of 10.16 billion yuan.

Mainland coal mining companies are benefiting from the country's rapid economic growth, which prompted higher industrial production and electricity consumption.

Despite government efforts to diversify energy sources, coal remains the major raw material to generate power in the mainland.

Shenhua Energy sold 97.8 million tonnes of coal in the first half, up 21 per cent from a year ago, while the average weighted price for domestic sales under long-term contracts jumped 6.6 per cent to 314.5 yuan per tonne.

Sales to the power sector jumped 44.9 per cent to 14.2 million tonnes, making up 14.5 per cent of its total sales of commercial coal.

Exports fell 1.6 per cent to 12.2 million tonnes, but still accounted for about half of the mainland's coal exports in the first half.

Higher sales boosted Shenhua Energy's coal revenue by 18.5 per cent in the first half to 26.3 billion yuan, accounting for 68.6 per cent of the firm's total turnover.

"The increase [in revenue] was mainly attributable to increased coal production and sales, with the prices of certain types of coal rising," Shenhua Energy said.

The company's 11 coal-fired power plants, which have installed capacity of 12,560 megawatts, generated 56 per cent more electricity to 36.02 billion kilowatt-hours in the first half.

As a result, revenue from the supply of electricity surged 71 per cent to 11 billion yuan, and contributed to 30 per cent of total sales.

The company has said it plans to increase its gross power generation capacity 14.8 per cent in the second half, as plants that started construction during energy shortages more than two years ago come on stream.

The company plans to launch new coal-fired plants for 1,860 MW in the second half after commissioning 600 MW of generators in the first half from the No2 generation unit of Jinjie Energy Plant that commenced operation.

With the additions, the company's total installed capacity would be boosted to 14,420 MW by the end of the year.

In a bid to meet massive capital expenditure, Shenhua Energy is preparing to sell shares on the Shanghai bourse later this year, which investment bankers suggested might raise more than 50 billion yuan.

"It is anticipated that the demand for coal will continue to experience comparatively strong and steady growth so that coal supply and demand generally will be balanced in the remaining part of the year," Shenhua Energy said.

The company also projected the spot price for coal to "remain high despite certain fluctuations".