[Ferro-Alloys.com] China's raw coal output expanded by 0.9 percent year on year in 2020, while its coal imports increased 1.5 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

A total of 3.84 billion tonnes of raw coal were produced in China last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 90 million tonnes, according to the NBS data.

In December alone, the raw coal output rose 3.2 percent from a year ago to 350 million tonnes, 1.7 percentage points higher than the increase seen in November.

The country imported 304 million tonnes of coal in 2020, up 4 million from a year earlier. In December, coal imports rose 27.32 million tonnes from November to reach 39.08 million tonnes.

China's leading coal-producing region of Shanxi has stepped up the development of new energy over the past five years in a bid to reduce its heavy reliance on coal.

The total installed power generating capacity in the province had reached 103.8 GW by the end of 2020, up 49 percent from the level at the end of 2015, according to the State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Co. Ltd.

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