NBS: China's October coal output rises 4.6% YoY

On a daily basis, coal production in October averaged around 13.28 million tonnes/day, slightly below September's 13.82 million t/d, according to the NBS data.

For the first ten months of 2024, China had churned out roughly 3.89 billion tonnes of coal, up 1.2% from a year earlier, further solidifying the country's standing as the world's top coal producer and consumer.

The dip in coal output last month was partly linked to separate coal mine accidents in North China's Hebei and Shanxi provinces on October 23. Local authorities conducted stricter safety inspections last month to identify safety lapses to ensure that the NPC Standing Committee meeting in early November in Beijing proceeded without news of another mining accident. Operations at some mines resumed only after passing safety checks, Mysteel Global noted.

Meanwhile, demand for coal from utilities also softened slightly in October as cooler weather tempered electricity demand, as Mysteel Global reported. Some industry insiders believe that coal demand will rebound this month as Chinese utilities will likely step up stockpiling to meet high power demand in the winter season.

Meanwhile, the country's production of metallurgical coke in October climbed by 4.8% from a month earlier to stand at 41.2 million tonnes though this was lower by 0.9% compared with October last year, the NBS data showed.

October is usually a strong month for domestic steel consumption so many blast furnace steel mills kept their production high last month to benefit from better steel margins. This revival in steel margins spurred higher demand for coke, prompting domestic coke makers to boost output from September, Mysteel Global observed.

Total coke output for the first ten months of this year stood at about 405.7 million tonnes, down 1.1% from the same period last year, the NBS data showed.

Written by Winnie Han, hanyueran@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com