In the face of increasing global criticism, the Japanese government is taking a fresh look at its heavy dependence on coal-fired power generation.

India's state-controlled mining firm Coal India (CIL) has formed a joint venture with NLC India, a state-controlled lignite producer and utility, to set up thermal and solar power assets with a combined capacity of 5GW in the country.

UK-Australian resources firm BHP and its partner, Japanese trading house Mitsubishi, plan to spend $100mn on 34 autonomous trucks at their 4.5mn t/yr Daunia coking coal mine in the Bowen basin in Queensland, Australia.

Sharp increases in EU emissions trading system (ETS) allowance values in recent sessions have worsened market conditions for German coal-fired power generation for next year, with around 46pc of the fleet priced out of the base-load market.

Higher costs and lower thermal coal prices are likely to see Australian thermal coal mining firms report a loss for January-June.

Germany's lower parliament Bundestag approved the gradual coal phase-out by 2038 on Friday.

China Taiyuan coal transaction price index stood at 125.07 points Monday, up 0.55 percent week on week.

Indonesian coal producers plan to cut coal outputs in the hope of bolstering prices, an association has said.