China Will Add More Coal Capacity in H2 2021

China plans to add nearly 110 million metric tons per year (mt/y) of advanced coal production capacity in the second half of 2021 to meet increasing demand for the fossil fuel, the state planner, the National Development of Reform Commission (NDRC), said. “Currently, more than 40 million mt of coal mining capacity are under government reviews for approval, while some 70 million mt are under construction and will gradually be launched,” the NDRC said. The world’s biggest coal consumer had added more than 140 million mt/y of coal mining capacity in the first half of this year, it said.

Recently, Beijing said it would release more than 10 million mt of coal from its reserves to cool the market. Total power consumption in the first six months rose 16% from a year earlier. However, coal output in June fell 5% on the year under tightened mine safety inspections across China after frequent mining accidents. The NDRC said it had been eliminating small and outdated coal capacity. Currently, China has around 4,700 coal mines, down from more than 10,000 in 2015. The average production capacity at coal mines is above 1.1 million mt/y, it said.

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