Reuters quoted the National Bureau of Statistics said China raw coal output in October rose 21.1%YoY from a year earlier up 3.8% on the month.

The data also showed China produced 273.07 million tonnes of coal in October, bringing the total output of coal in the first 10 months of the year to 2,417.72 million tonnes up by 11.4%YoY from the previous year. The October output figure was the second highest on record and only the fourth month that China has produced more than 260 million tonnes.

The record of 279 million tonnes was achieved in June as China raced to make up for a deep seasonal slowdown in January and February.

China top coal producing province Shanxi has been pushing its small mines, notoriously dangerous and inefficient, to merge into large mines, a consolidation step that has curbed output from Shanxi in the past few months.

Mr Wang Ye an analyst at CITICS Securities said "The mines are now negotiating prices and details in the contracts, followed by technical upgrading and overhauling, but it will take time for the entire process to conclude."

But since the data from the National Bureau of Statistics does not include output figures from small mines, industry sources said it did not reflect the real production picture.

(Sourced from Reuters