China, the world's leading producer and consumer of coal, is targeting a coal output of 3.65 billion metric tons for the current year, as announced by the country's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Furthermore, as stated by the NDRC, the 2012 production targets for the three major coal producing provinces in China, i.e., Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Shaanxi, are 920 million mt, 810 million mt and 400 million mt respectively, as compared to their coal outputs of 990 million mt, 870 million mt and 405 million mt last year.
In addition, in the current year China plans to eliminate annual backward or outdated coal production capacities totaling 23.47 million mt, affecting 625 coal mines. The total number of coal producing enterprises in China will be restricted to 8,000 units within the current year, with an average coal production capacity of 450,000 mt per year.