SINGAPORE: China’s daily coal output in October slipped from a record high in the prior month as hundreds of Covid cases a day were detected in major mining regions, prompting local governments to impose stringent curbs that slowed mine operations.

That compares with September’s record of 12.89 million tonnes per day, and 11.52 million tonnes in October 2021.

The spike in September followed Beijing’s order to revoke a decades-long restriction on sales at coal mines, which was designed to prevent miners from producing more coal than they were allowed to and to reduce the risks of mining accidents. But as Covid-19 cases mounted throughout October, authorities introduced stringent mobility curbs, forcing miners to scale down production as they were unable to ship out their output.