Global coal production was stable in 2019, despite a 4% lift in Chinese coal production

After two years of growth, global coal production remained stable in 2019, as slowing electricity consumption reduced coal demand.
In China, the largest coal producer (47% of the global output), production grew by 4% for the third year in a row, in line with the continuing supply-side structural reform. Coal production also increased slightly in Australia and accelerated in South Africa despite declining world prices.
In other large coal producing countries, production followed a downward trend: it contracted by 3.3% in India, where a prolonged monsoon season derailed the government’s target to boost domestic output and to cut its reliance on coal imports, in the USA (-6.7%, due to a falling demand from the power sector coupled with declining prices that contributed to a wave of bankruptcies), in Indonesia, and in Colombia. Coal production growth slowed down in Russia (+1% only) and remained stable in Turkey. In the EU, climate policies, the end of subsidies for coal production in 2018, high carbon prices and the increased competition from renewables and gas in the power sector contributed to a 15% fall in coal production, especially in Germany and Poland.