WEEKLY: China's coking coal production slows as safety checks intensify

Coking coal production among the 523 coal mines that Mysteel monitors throughout China declined markedly during the week of May 21-27 as many mines in North China's Shanxi province - the country's largest coal-mining region - halted operations for safety inspections after the fatal accident on May 22, according to Mysteel's latest survey.

Raw coal output among the 523 sampled mines averaged 1.76 million tonnes/day over the survey period, tumbling by 16% from the previous week. This also marked the lowest level so far this year, excluding the two survey weeks spanning February 12-25 when the Chinese New Year holiday disrupted production,