China’s coal output fell 10.2% year-on-year to 2.18 billion tons during the first eight months of the year. The fall eased from the previous three months, but it still marked the fifth consecutive month of declines of over 10%. Coal imports rose 12.4% from a year earlier to 1.56 trillion tons during the period on surging demand. In August alone, coal imports surged 52.1% year-on-year to 265.9 billion tons. Crude oil output fell 9.9% year-on-year in August, the biggest monthly drop since 2003. Imports have trended upward after private refineries were given permission to import crude last year. In the first eight months, China’s crude oil imports rose 13.5% compared with the same period of last year, while refined oil output gained 2.1%. China’s oil giants plan to reduce oil output due to flagging prices. Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in China, and PetroChina, the largest oil and gas producer, have both lowered their oil production targets for 2016.