China mined 308.35 million mt of crude coal in June, up 10.6% year on year, National Bureau of Statistics data released Monday showed.
Over January-June, it mined 1,712.63 million mt of crude coal, up 5% year on year, the data showed.
"After two consecutive months of weak coal production, June production surpassed 300 million mt as the government urged domestic mines to ramp up production in the face of strong demand and crackdown on low-rank coal imports," Citi analysts said in a note.
China in June imposed a partial embargo on cargoes of imported thermal coal at about nine ports on its eastern and southern coasts.
"We expect the trend of robust coal production to sustain into July and August, thanks in part to the government's efforts in bringing down coal prices to the range of Yuan 500-570/mt," Citi analysts added.
In June, the FOB Qinhuangdao 5,500 kcal/kg NAR price averaged Yuan 575.23/mt, down from Yuan 590.45/mt in May, according to S&P Global Platts data.
China generated 520.3 billion kWh of electricity in June, up 5.2% year on year.
Coal-fired power output comprised 371 billion kWh of the total, up 6.3% on year; hydropower 104.4 billion kWh, down 1.9%; nuclear 19.9 billion kWh, up 10.9%; wind 19.7 billion kWh, up 13.3% and solar 5.3 billion kWh, up 29.3%.
"Power consumption by the industrial sector strengthened into June, and that of the services and household sectors benefitted from hot weather in northern China," Citi analysts noted.
Over January-June, China's electricity output totaled 2,959.8 billion kWh, up 6.3% year on year.
Coal-fired power output comprised 2,221.5 billion kWh of the total, up 7.1% on year; hydropower 461.3 billion kWh, down 4.2%; nuclear 115.4 billion kWh, up 19.6%; wind 132.7 billion kWh, up 17.9% and solar 28.9 billion kWh, up 35.1%.
