China coal output drops 10.7% in Jan-Oct

BEIJING - China's coal output fell 10.7 percent year on year to 2.74 billion tons during the first ten months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

In October, coal output dropped 12 percent year on year to 280 million tons, according to the bureau.

An increase in demand saw coal imports rise 18.5 percent from a year earlier to 200 million tons during the ten-month period, the bureau said.

Coal imports surged 55.3 percent year on year to 21.58 million tons in October alone.

Stockpiles at coal companies amounted to 470 million tons at the end of October, down 14.5 percent year on year.

China is the world's largest consumer of coal. The industry has long been plagued by overcapacity and has felt the pinch over the past two years as the economy cooled and demand fell.

China is downsizing its coal industry and plans to cut coal capacity by half a billion tons in the next few years as cutting overcapacity is one of the major tasks in the country's supply-side structural reform.

By September over 80 percent of the country's 250 million ton reduction target for the year had been met, according to official data.