NBS: China’s raw coal output in Jun’25 shows mixed trends across key mining hubs

• Production drops in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia 
• China’s coal production grows 3% y-o-y in Jun’25

Mysteel Global: China’s raw coal production in June showed divergent trends among the top five producing regions, according to the latest provincial data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Despite robust production growth seen in western regions of Xinjiang and Guizhou, North China’s Shanxi and Inner Mongolia – the country’s top two coal producers – churned out less coal last month on a yearly basis, contributing to a slowdown in the national output growth, Mysteel Global noted.

Shanxi, China’s largest coal-producing province, produced 113.69 million tonnes of raw coal in June, marking a 1.6% fall from June 2024, although the figure was higher by 3.3% from May. Inner Mongolia followed with 108.27 million tonnes, dipping 0.1% on year while rising 4.5% from the previous month, the NBS data showed.

Analysts attributed the declines in the top two’s output to safety inspections, facility intelligence upgrade, and more importantly, the impact of a rising trend of fighting against “involution” – meaning excessive internal competition – among energy and industrial sectors. Some miners also voluntarily trimmed production to shore up prices, which continued to slide in both thermal coal and coking coal segments in June, they added.

In contrast, raw coal production in Northwest China’s Xinjiang and Southwest China’s Guizhou, ranking fourth and fifth among major coal producing regions, increased significantly in June, possibly due to newer, lower-cost mines and strategic prioritization under China’s “westward energy transfer” policy. Meanwhile, Northwest China’s Shaanxi, in third place, also reported modest growth in output during the month.

Together, the top five regions produced 358.66 million tonnes of raw coal last month, up 4.5% on year and 5% on month, accounting for about 85.2% of the country’s total, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS data.

In June, China’s total production hit 421.07 million tonnes, up 3% on year and 4.4% on month, Mysteel Global reported earlier this week, citing NBS data.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.