BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s coal output returned to more than 12 million tonnes per day as of Feb. 20, the country’s state planner said on Monday, a level equal to the average daily production of the fourth quarter of last year.
Daily coal output in January and early February was affected by the Chinese New Year holiday. The National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC) did not give a figure for January output.
Production and supply of coal in China’s main production areas of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia are expected to stabilise as the weather warms up, the NDRC said in its official Wechat account.
Authorities have ordered coal miners to run at maximum capacity to tame red-hot coal prices and prevent a recurrence of September’s nationwide power crunch that disrupted industrial operations and added to factory gate inflation.
(Reporting by Ella Cao and Meg Shen; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
