China Knowledge reported that Shanxi Province, one of China top coal producing regions produced 741 million tonnes of coal last year, 126 million tonnes of coal more than the output recorded in 2009.

In the month of December, Shanxi coal output hit a record high of 73 million tonnes of coal. Reportedly, the province started reforming the coal industries in 2009 and it decreased the mine wells to 1,053 from previous 2,598.

Shanxi currently has four extralarge enterprises with 100 million tonnes of coal output, three large enterprises with 50 million tonnes of coal output and eleven enterprises with 10 million tonnes of coal output.

Mr Wang Xianzheng head of the China Coal Industry Association said China coal demand is expected to rise to 3.8 billion tonnes in 2015 reflecting an increase of 800 million tonnes from 2009.

(Sourced from China Knowledge)