China's coal production fell 3% in August due to production curbs

China's coal production fell by 3% in August compared to the same month last year, according to data released on Monday by the statistics bureau. Production restrictions continued.

The output was 390.5 million metric tonnes, down from the previous year but up from the 380.99 millions tons in July, which was a low for a whole month.

China has launched a "anti-involution campaign" to reduce industrial overcapacity and support prices.

In July, a series of safety inspections was launched across several provinces to ensure that mines did not produce more than their allocated capacity.

A mine in August was temporarily closed because of fears that an accident could have a negative impact on China's military parade scheduled for early September.

Shenhua Energy is a listed subsidiary owned by China Energy Investment Corp., the largest coal miner in China. It forecasted that China's coal production would slow down and that imports would continue their downward trend in July to December.

According to data released on Monday, despite the slowdowns in July and august, the increase in coal production during the first half of this year resulted in a 3% increase in output compared to the previous year, with 3.17 billion tons. (Reporting and editing by Colleen Waye)

(source: Reuters)