Raw coal production from China jumped 4.4 per cent in November from a year earlier, giving a total of 321 million tonnes. With this, the country's overall coal output from January to November 2011 reached 3.46 billion tonnes, a hike of 11.6 per cent from the same period of 2010.

Citing data from the China Coal Industry Association, the industry portal SXCOAL.com noted state-owned coal mines contributed 1.77 billion tonnes to the total year-to-date yield, a growth of 12.1 per cent from a year ago.

China's coal production volume has greatly improved and increased owing to the application of modern technology, as well as a two-year consolidation program of the country's coal sector in Shanxi province and in the Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia coal-producing regions.

China aims to merge its coal mining firms to 4,000 firms from around 11,000 under its five-year development plan. Of the total number, only eight to 10 major coal producers will give out two-thirds of all expected output by 2015.

Meanwhile, China's coal imports from South Africa jumped 88 per cent to 12.26 million tonnes from January to November 2011, Bloomberg News reported based on data from India Coal Market Watch, a unit of Mjunction. The growth prompted November sales to reach more than threefold to $2.84 million.

China accounted for 21 per cent of South Africa's total shipments during the period.