(Yicai Global) Feb. 2 -- A number of Chinese coal miners said they expect profits to have greatly widened in 2022 because of the high prices of the raw material throughout the year.

Shanxi Coking Coal, China’s largest coke producer, said on Jan. 20 that net profit likely jumped 93 percent to 132 percent to between CNY9.8 billion and CNY11.8 billion (USD1.5 billion and USD1.8 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31. Yankuang Energy Group expects a net profit of about CNY30.8 billion, an 89 percent gain, it said a day later.

Earnings at Shaanxi Coal Industry may have jumped 58 percent to 68 percent to between CNY12.6 billion and CNY14.7 billion, the major producer announced on Jan. 17. Pingdingshan Tian’an Coal Mining said in a forecast on Jan. 21 that its profit probably doubled to CNY5.7 billion last year.

International prices of bulk commodities fluctuated wildly last year because of the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pushing up energy and mineral product costs, including those of coal. But prices may come down this year.

“It’ll be hard for coal prices to remain high because of the substitution effect in terms of electricity generation if the price of the natural gas remains very low,” Everbright Securities wrote in a recent report. “Vice versa, coal prices will likely rise if the cost of natural gas soars.”

Shanxi Coking’s shares [SHE: 000983] ended little changed at CNY11.74 (USD1.75) each today, while Yankuang Energy [SHA: 600188] gained 3.3 percent to CNY35.55. Pingdingshan Tian’an [SHA: 601666] rose 0.7 percent to CNY11.34 and Shaanxi Coal [SHA: 601225] 0.9 percent to CNY19.62.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione