The economic and information commission of
China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has announced that it intends to push forward mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of coal enterprises in the region in order to optimize coal industry structure.
Accordingly, the local government plans to reduce the number of local coal enterprises from 100 to 80 by the end of 2013. By the end of 2015, the output of raw coal in the region is expected to be below 1 billion mt, with 70 percent produced by underground mines with annual outputs over 1.2 million mt and by open pit mines with annual outputs in excess of 3 million mt.