China's December coal output rose from November to hit its highest level since December 2015, as miners boosted output to meet increasing demand after Beijing softened winter coal burning restrictions in northern homes due to gas shortages. The world's biggest coal miner produced 314.87 million tonnes in December, up from 299.98 million tonnes in November and up 1.1 percent from a year ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
In early December, Beijing scaled back its ambitious plan of converting heating system to clean energy from coal in millions of households and industrial plants across northern China after provinces warned of gas shortages. For full-year 2017, coal production rose 3.2 percent from a year ago to 3.45 billion tonnes, boosted by robust demand from industrial plants as the economy performed more strongly than expected.
"Growing investments in infrastructure and property market have encouraged major coal-consuming sectors such as steel to churn out production, helping to drive coal output," said Cheng Gong, analyst at China National Coal Association. China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2017, beating the government's target and quickening economic growth. The country generated 6.28 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power in 2017, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier.
China last year wound back a production restriction allowing miners to operate for only 276 days, which had led to a spike in coal prices in late 2016. However, Beijing has also stepped up capacity cutbacks and environmental inspections last year as it looks to shut down the worst polluting mines.