As we discussed in Commodore Research's most recent Weekly China Report, China’s coal production in July totaled 343.2 million tons. This is down month-on-month by 37.7 million tons (-10%), down year-on-year by 37.8 million tons (-10%), and marks the lowest production since October 2021. Remaining significant is that the last time that there was any year-on-year growth was back in June 2025. Before this stretch, coal production had grown on a year-on-year basis for thirteen straight months.
Coal-derived electricity generation in July totaled 584.1 billion kilowatt hours. This is up month-on-month by 86.1 billion kilowatt hours (17%) but down year-on-year by 17.9 billion kilowatt hours (-3%). Very helpful for coal import demand and the dry bulk market is that China's coal-derived electricity generation has now fared better than domestic coal production for seven straight months.
