China coal mining output falls most in decade after deadly blast

China’s coal production cratered in June after a deadly mine explosion sparked widespread safety inspections across one of the country’s key mining hubs.

China produced 381 million tons of coal in June, a 9.7% drop from a year earlier, the biggest year-on-year decline since 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. The plunge in output followed a blast in late May at a mine in Shanxi that killed 82 people and prompted widespread safety inspections in the province, which is responsible for about a quarter of China’s coal production.

Generation from China’s thermal power plants, mostly fueled by coal, rose just 0.5% in June, the slowest pace this year. Still, output from the plants increased 2.9% in the first half, rebounding after dropping in 2025 for the first time in a decade.

Thermal power is making a comeback as renewables underperform, mostly because grid operators are increasingly forcing them to shut down to avoid overloading power systems, a process known as curtailment. For example, despite a record number of new installations last year, wind generation fell 5.6% in June and was down 1.9% over the first half. In addition to curtailment, wind speeds have been relatively low this year.

Read More: Chinese coal disaster to ripple through steel, power, chemicals