Coal news and updates

China's monthly coal output rises to highest since March 2015

China's October coal output rose to the highest since at least March 2015, after Beijing approved a raft of coal mine expansions to tame record prices and boost supply.

The world's biggest producer and consumer of the dirty fossil fuel churned out 357.09 million tonnes of coal last month, up from 334.1 million tonnes in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

Output over the first 10 months of 2021 was 3.3 billion tonnes, up 4% year-on-year.

Since July, China has approved expansions at more than 153 coal mines, which could add 55 million tonnes of coal output in the fourth quarter, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said last month.

The central government, striving to put an end to power shortages, has also forbidden local governments to shut coal mines without authorisation and urged a restart at closed mines as soon as they have rectified any problems.