China’s coal mine expansions lift October production

China saw its coal output jump to its highest level since at least March 2015 in October. This came as the country authorized a slew of coal mine expansions to reduce prices and improve supply.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ data on Monday, China produced 357.09 million tonnes of coal last month. This was higher than September’s  production of 334.1 million tonnes. 

In the first ten months of 2021, output touched a 4% year-on-year increase to 3.3 billion tonnes.

In an effort to alleviate electricity shortages, the central government has prohibited local governments from shutting down coal mines without permission. It has also advocated the reopening of closed mines as soon as any issues have been resolved.

China’s approval of more than 153 coal mine expansion since July was expected to produce additional 55 million tonnes of coal in the fourth quarter.

The increase in production was also attributed to a last-minute negotiation among coal-dependent developing countries to revise their agreement’s final wording to “scale down” rather than “phase out” coal use. The arrangement happened during the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow over the weekend.