China: Shanxi moves to reverse coal output slump while keeping safety controls

• Shanxi pushes faster mine restarts to restore coal supply after a prolonged output decline
• Strict safety checks may limit the pace of production recovery, despite efforts to lift output

Shanxi, once China’s largest coal mining hub, called on its coal industry on September 26 to speed up mine restarts and rebuild supply, seeking to reverse a four-month decline in coal output following the May 22 gas explosion that triggered province-wide safety inspections. However, the province stressed that the recovery must not come at the expense of mine safety.

Governor Lu Dongliang chaired the meeting in Taiyuan, the provincial capital, where he called for full efforts to resume and stabilize coal production while maintaining strict safety standards.

The recovery plan will be applied differently depending on each mine’s condition. Mines with unresolved safety problems must complete rectification and pass inspections before restarting, while operating mines are encouraged to reach full capacity. Mines under construction are being told to keep the building work on schedule and realize commercial operation as soon as possible.

Local governments and companies will monitor the situation daily and report progress weekly, while provincial government-owned and central government-owned coal miners in Shanxi are expected to take the lead. The province also plans to revise mine-area plans and auction replacement capacity.

The move is to respond to a sharp slump in Shanxi’s coal output after the May 22 accident. Shanxi produced 74.6 million tonnes of raw coal in August, down 30.9% on year and dragging the January-August volume to 755.68 million tonnes, down 12.5% against a 3.3% decline nationwide. Previously, Shanxi’s coal output had fallen 7.1% in May, 31.5% in June and 35.8% in July, according to official statistics.

Mysteel’s survey of 523 coking coal mines nationwide put capacity utilization at 68.5% in the week to September 24, down 1.2 percentage points on week and marking a third straight weekly decline.

Shanxi is turning its safety controls into longer-term rules. The province had issued a 17-point set of coal safety measures drafted after public consultation in July. Under the rules, May 22 will become an annual coal mine safety warning day. Hidden mining areas and falsification of monitoring data could lead to criminal referrals, underground labour dispatch will be banned, and mine managers will have to make public safety commitments.

On September 10, the provincial energy administration set a coal production target for Shanxi during 2026-30 at around 1.25 billion tonnes/year — well below the 2025 production result of 1.3 billion.

Note: The article is published as part of a content sharing agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.