China: Quake halts production at some northeastern coal mines

• Fuli mine suspends production post-quake, 6 workers trapped
• Hegang’s private mines already struggling amid weak demand

Mysteel Global: A mine quake struck Fuli Coal Mine in Hegang city, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, at 1:44 am on 10 September, damaging some parts of the mining tunnel and trapping six workers underground, while two others were rescued and sent to the hospital, the state media CCTV reported.

The mine, owned by Heilongjiang Hegang Mining Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Longmay Mining Holding Group, has suspended production after the incident, temporarily idling capacity of 2 million tonnes/year (mnt/y), Mysteel learnt from sources.

While production at other subsidiaries of Longmay Group has not been disrupted, some privately owned mines in Hegang have stopped operations, Mysteel’s latest survey results showed.

Hegang hosts 17.18 mnt/y of coking coal capacity in total, with 1/3 coking coal being the main product. In 2024, raw coal output of the city fell by 33.7% to only 8.74 mnt from the 13.18 mnt produced a year earlier, the local official data showed.

In May last year, a fatal mine accident occurred at another mine under Heilongjiang Hegang Mining Company due to poor safety management and misconduct, which claimed the lives of five workers and injured four. Mining safety checks were tightened after the accident, Mysteel Global noted.

In the recent couple of years, although most state-run coal mines in Hegang have maintained normal production, local private mines have been suffering tougher operational straits due to the coking coal market downturn, which kept their operating rates at low levels.

As of 10 September, offers for 1/3 coking coal in Hegang ranged within RMB 950-1,040/t ($133-146/t), on a free-on-rail basis and including the 13% VAT, Mysteel learnt.

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