China's raw coal output set a new record in November, largely due to substantial contributions from major coal-producing regions including Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and Shanxi.

The country's raw coal output in November hit the highest level in history at 427.98 million tonnes, up 1.8% year on year (YoY) and 3.93% month on month (MoM), according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Inner Mongolia recorded the biggest MoM increment of 5.50 million tonnes in November, followed by Xinjiang (4.93 million tonnes) and Shaanxi (2.48 million tonnes). The much anticipated Shanxi saw its coal output rise 2.18 million tonnes, only ranking fourth across the country in terms of production increase.

Hydro-rich Yunnan ranked fifth in the month with an increment of 817,000 tonnes, down from the previous month's third place. Provinces known for their green electricity such as Sichuan and Qinghai extended MoM growths.

In addition, Inner Mongolia surpassed Shanxi again in November after a six-month lapse and topped China in both monthly and year-to-date raw coal production.

Specifically, Inner Mongolia churned out 117.23 million tonnes of raw coal in November, up 8.4% YoY and 4.92% MoM. Shanxi saw raw coal production fall 4% YoY but rise 1.95% MoM to 114.18 million tonnes. Shaanxi produced 69.44 million tonnes, growing 2.2% YoY and 3.71% MoM, while output in Xinjiang ascended 7.5% YoY and 10.45% MoM to 52.10 million tonnes, data showed.

The combined output of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi in the same month totaled 300.85 million tonnes, up 3.78% YoY and 3.50% MoM, which took up 70.29% of the country's total output, expanding by 0.27 percentage point from the previous year.

The number of provinces with production exceeding 10 million tonnes remained at five compared to the same month last year. Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, and Guizhou cumulatively produced 366.15 million tonnes of coal, rising 4.63% YoY. This represented 85.55% of China's total output, expanding 1.02 percentage points from the year prior.

In terms of YoY changes, ten provinces recorded YoY increases in raw coal production in November, with notable gains seen in Qinghai (21.5%), Jiangxi (14.2%), Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Ningxia (5.6%).

The sharpest YoY decrease was observed in Jiangsu at 23.6%, followed by Yunnan (-18%), Hebei (-10%), Shandong (-8.1%) and Jilin (-5.8%).

Over the first 11 months this year, China produced 4.32 billion tonnes of raw coal, climbing 1.2% YoY, unchanged from the growth in the first ten months.

Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi remained the top three producers over January-November. Inner Mongolia churned out 1.18 billion tonnes of raw coal, up 5.2% YoY, accounting for 27.27% of the total output. Shanxi contributed 26.84% or 1.16 billion tonnes of raw coal, down 7.3% YoY. The cumulative output of Shaanxi increased 2.1% YoY to 710.49 million tonnes, making up 16.44% of the total.

Thirteen provinces posted YoY increases in raw coal production over the first 11 months. Xinjiang exhibited the largest growth of 19.4%, followed by Jiangsu (12.2%) and Gansu (9.7%). However, Heilongjiang registered the steepest YoY drop of 22.5% over January-November.

Furthermore, there was zero raw coal output in Chongqing, Zhejiang, Xizang, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hainan, Guangdong and Beijing.