China's coal-producing heartland of Shanxi province has announced the permanent closure of more smaller coal mines, in a move aimed at raising efficiency and safety standards within the industry.

 

Mines with permitted production capacity of under 600,000 t/yr will be closed by the end of this year as part a three-year plan to improve industrial safety, the Shanxi government said.

 

The Shanxi government also plans to reduce the number of coal mines to no more than 900 by the end of this year.

 

The latest closures comes after China main economic planning agency the NDRC last year ordered mines with a capacity of under 300,000 t/yr in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, as well as the Inner Mongolia and Ningxia regions, to shut permanently before the end of 2019. The NDRC last year also took a hard line by banning approvals for mines with a capacity of under 600,000 t/yr in these four provinces and regions.

 

Shanxi, which is China's second-largest coal-producing province, phased out 27.45mn t/yr of inefficient coal mining capacity in 2019. But production in the province rose by 6.1pc from a year earlier to 971.09mn t in 2019, accounting for 26pc of China's national coal output last year.