CHINA Shenhua Energy Co, the nation's largest coal producer, attracted a record 2.6 trillion yuan (US$350 billion) of orders for its Shanghai share sale, said two people with direct knowledge of the transaction yesterday.

The offer drew more than 1.9 trillion yuan from retail investors and more than 700 billion yuan from institutions, the sources said, citing preliminary tallies and asking not to be identified before an official announcement.

Beijing-based Shenhua will sell as many as 1.8 billion shares at between 34.99 yuan and 36.99 yuan each, the company said on Sunday.

Shenhua will use the proceeds to fund acquisitions and expand output as domestic suppliers fail to keep pace with demand, forcing the nation to rely on imports for the first time.

Chinese investors, undeterred by the world's highest valuations for traded companies, are rushing to buy into a stock market that has almost tripled in size this year.

"Shenhua has a very good market image, and there is no risk to invest in the company as it can sustain stable growth," said Yan Shi, a Shanghai-based analyst at Core Pacific-Yamaichi International Ltd. "It's a good choice for long-term investment."

China became a net coal importer for the first time in January, ending centuries of self-sufficiency and boosting benchmark prices of the fuel at Australia's Newcastle Port to records last month.

Shenhua's share sale, if priced at the top end of the range, will become China's largest domestic stock offering, overtaking China Construction Bank Corp's 58-billion-yuan sale earlier this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

China Galaxy Securities Co and China International Capital Corp are arranging the sale. The coal supplier received more orders than the 2.26 trillion yuan drawn by China Construction Bank, whose stock rose 32 percent on its Shanghai debut on Monday.

Spokespeople for Shenhua, Galaxy, CICC in Beijing declined to comment yesterday.

Prices of coal rose to a record last month at Qinhuangdao, China's largest port for the fuel, as hot weather increased air-conditioner use.