BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) - China's coal output fell 4.2% in March, statistics bureau data showed on Tuesday, amid oversupply and weak demand.
China produced 399.33 million metric tons of coal last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. That brought output in the first quarter of the year to 1.11 billion tons, down 4.1% compared with the same period last year.
Domestic coal prices fell in March on oversupply and weak demand from marginal consumers in the steel and cement sectors as property development lags in China. However, power sector demand, the main driver for Chinese coal consumption, remained stable.
Production fell 18% in China's top coal producing hub of Shanxi during January and February after a string of deadly accidents forced mines to halt operations, but output had at least partially recovered by March.
Shanxi plans to cut full-year output by about 4% from 2023, the province said in a work plan last week.
That would be the first production cut in seven years for the traditional coal-producing region, which has already mined out much of its high quality reserves, spurring production to shift westward.
Averaged out against expected production increases by some other provinces, China's total output will be about 1% higher in 2024, an industry group has forecast.
China's daily output recovered in March compared with the beginning of the year. Production in March was 13.3 million tons per day, up from 11.8 million tons per day during the first two months of the year.
China reports data for the first two months of the year in a combined release to smooth out the effects of the Lunar New Year which may fall in either month.
The production of coke used in steelmaking fell 6.0% in March to 39.37 million tonnes, with year-to-date output reaching 119.89 million tonnes, down 0.5%. (Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
