Reuters reported that China raw coal production in November rose 4.4%YoY to reach 321 million tonnes while total output in the first 11 months of the year rose 11.6% to 3.46 billion tonnes.

Industry portal SXCOAL.com said citing data from the China Coal Industry Association that of the total year to date output, that from main state-owned coal mines reached 1.77 billion tonnes up by 12.1% from the same period last year.

Following a two year consolidation of the coal sector in Shanxi province, China coal heartland and output has increased strongly as better technology boosts production efficiency. Consolidation efforts have also spread to neighboring coal producing regions such as Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia.

Under the government five year development plan, Beijing intends to consolidate its coal mining companies from around 11,000 to 4,000 firms with eight to 10 major producers expected to account for nearly two thirds of all output by 2015.

The National Bureau of Statistics does not publish monthly raw coal output figures along with other commodities.

(Sourced from Reuters)