NBS: China's Jan-Feb coal output rises 7.7% YoY

China prefers to combine January output numbers with February's as the Chinese New Year holiday usually falls in either of the two months, Mysteel Global notes.

On a daily basis, coal production during the two months averaged 12.97 million tonnes/day, exceeding the 11.75 million t/d over the same months last year but falling short of December's average of 14.156 million t/d.

The production of the fuel during the past two months still showcased firm on-year growth, as miners responded to Beijing's commitment to attain energy security to meet higher domestic electricity demand during winter.

However, the NBS data revealed that the nation's electricity generation fell by 1.3% on year to 1,492.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in the first two months this year, with a 5.8% on-year downturn in thermal power production (mostly coal-fired) at 1,021.4 billion kWh.

Abundant coal supplies and relatively weak demand have raised some concerns in the coal industry. In late February, the China National Coal Association and the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association issued a joint proposal and called on the industry to curb coal production to deal with the sluggish downstream demand and persistently high coal inventories, as Mysteel Global reported.

Meanwhile, the government reaffirmed coal's pivotal role in safeguarding energy supply in its 2025 energy roadmap, delivered on the sidelines of this year's Two Sessions national political meetings that began in Beijing on March 5. The blueprint laid out a strategy to balance energy security, electricity market reforms, and carbon reduction, as Mysteel Global reported.

Given these factors, the country's coal production is expected to keep steady or increase slightly this year, Mysteel Global learned.

Meanwhile, during the first two months this year, the country's production of metallurgical coke rose by 1.6% from the same period last year to 81.9 million tonnes, the NBS data showed.

Written by Winnie Han, hanyueran@mysteel.com

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