BEIJING — China's raw coal output expanded by 0.9 percent year-on-year in 2020, while its coal imports increased 1.5 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

A total of 3.84 billion metric tons of raw coal were produced in China last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 90 million tons, according to the NBS data.

In December alone, the raw coal output rose 3.2 percent from a year ago to 350 million tons, 1.7 percentage points higher than the increase seen in November.

The country imported 304 million tons of coal in 2020, up 4 million from a year earlier. In December, coal imports rose 27.32 million tons from November to reach 39.08 million tons.

Coal prices saw a surge, with the transaction price of Qinhuangdao 5,500 kcal/kg thermal coal standing at 642 yuan (about $99) per ton on Dec 25, up 56 yuan from Nov 27, the data showed.