In recent years, China's energy demand has experienced significant fluctuations. As a major coal-producing province, Shanxi's raw coal production has undergone considerable changes, experiencing notable fluctuations between "increase and decrease". The decrease in production in June 2026 even surpassed that at the beginning of 2024, with the monthly output hitting a new low since 2019.

Data showed Shanxi produced 78.01 million tonnes of raw coal in June, down 31.5% year on year and 23.83% from the previous month. The decline was the steepest on record in the National Bureau of Statistics' monthly data series, while the output level was the lowest since 2019.

The plunge was primarily driven by a gas explosion at a mine in Qinyuan county, Changzhi city, in late May. The accident prompted a sharp tightening of safety inspections across Shanxi, leading to widespread mine suspensions and output cuts. The pace of resuming normal operations has been slow, constraining capacity release and causing a dramatic drop in production.

Shanxi's raw coal output has been highly volatile since 2020. As national energy demand surged, the provincial government and coal companies ramped up extraction to help stabilize the domestic energy market, with output rising year after year.

Shanxi's cumulative raw coal output hit a record 1.36 billion tonnes in 2023, a level that has not been surpassed in the following two years, according to NBS data.

However, the push to boost production led to widespread over-mining beyond approved capacity, while safety investment and infrastructure upgrades lagged behind. This created numerous hazards and frequent accidents, disrupting orderly mine operations. Based on public information, Shanxi's approved production capacity stood at around 1.21 billion tonnes in 2023, meaning actual output exceeded the limit by 147 million tonnes, or 12.1%.

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