By Tom Hoskyns

April 10, 2021 - Coal production will hit 8 billion tonnes in 2021 after COVID-19 drove a 2% drop in total output in 2020.

GlobalData predicts India will register a 9% increase in coal output this year, with the commercial auction of the country's coal mines expected to be a key production booster.

The firm noted India's government gave the go-ahead in early 2020 for 10 coal operations to start up.

Other countries expected to see coal output increase include China, Indonesia, Australia and South Africa.

The bulk of the predicted growth in coal output will come from metallurgical coal, production of which GlobalData expects to grow at an average rate of 4.2% per year until 2025. Thermal coal production, meanwhile, is predicted to grow at just 2% over the same period.