China’s top coal region ramps up Jan-Sept output – industry

30-Oct-2018

Coal output in China’s top producing region Inner Mongolia jumped 11.1 percent in the first three quarters of 2018, taking total output for the period to 673.3 million tonnes, industry data showed on Friday.

Shanxi province was the second biggest producer over the period, with 650 million tonnes, up 1.2 percent on the year, according to the China Coal Industry Association.

The two regions accounted for 51 percent of China’s total coal output over the three quarters, the data showed.

In line with national trends, output in China’s two biggest coal-producing regions has been on the rise since last year following a decline in 2016, casting doubt over the country’s plans to curb fossil fuel use and carbon emissions.

Inner Mongolia is under pressure to cut the share of coal in total energy consumption from 82.9 percent to 79 percent over the 2016 to 2020 period, but it has no plans to curb production, most of which is delivered to other regions.

The province of Shaanxi, also in northern China, reported the biggest rate of production growth in the first three quarters of 2018, with output rising 14.7 percent to 455.5 million tonnes.

China’s total coal production for the first nine months of 2018 reached 2.59 billion tonnes, up 5.1 percent on the year, according to government data released earlier this month.

Source: REUTERS