- China’s June coal output hits 14-month low
- Safety inspections continue to squeeze coal supply
Mysteel Global: Extensive safety inspections following the fatal mine accident in Shanxi province continued to disrupt domestic mine operations last month, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data published on Wednesday show. China’s raw coal output slumped to 380.88 million tonnes in June, down 4.1% from May and 9.7% on year, according to the latest NBS release.
The June reading marked the lowest monthly level since April 2024, excluding the January-February periods, when the NBS only publishes a combined data for the two months to iron out the Chinese New Year holiday effect, Mysteel Global notes.
After the fatal mine explosion in North China’s Shanxi province late in May, authorities suspended operations at numerous coal mines for safety inspections, as reported. The impact of the inspection campaigns extended into June, as major coal mines remained in suspension in Shanxi, China’s top coking coal producing region.
While the mining stoppages had tightened domestic coal supply last month, many operating mines also chose to reduce daily workloads to minimize accident risks, as authorities prioritised mine safety management and threatened severe penalties for illegal mining activity.
As such, Mysteel’s nationwide survey of 523 coking coal mines showed that their June output remained consistently at levels that were the lowest since Mysteel started to track the data in 2021. Last month, the 523 miners daily raw coal output averaged only 1.56 million tonnes, down around 20% on month and 17% on year.
Meanwhile, production in June at the 462 thermal coal miners under Mysteel’s tracking also declined by 2.4% on month and 5.1% on year, with their daily output averaging 5.37 million tonnes.
As stringent inspections continue to stall mine resumptions in Shanxi province, market analysts expect China’s raw coal output to remain at a low level in July. Moreover, some participants worry that tightened controls on mine operations may suppress coal supplies well into the current second half of the year, Mysteel Global notes.
Over January-June, China’s cumulative raw coal production totalled 2.37 billion tonnes, down 1.7% from the same period of last year, according to the NBS data.
Meanwhile, China’s production of coke for all uses reached 42.04 million tonnes in June, down 1.6% from May but up 1.1% on year. Over January-June, the cumulative output totalled 252.5 million tonnes, up 1.6% on year, the NBS data showed.
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