HONG KONG, July 20 -- China Shenhua Energy Co, the world's top coal producer by market value, said its commercial coal production for the first half rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier to 109.2 million tons.

Coal sales for the same period were up 11.6 percent at 137.4 million tons, while exports fell 4.9 percent to 5.8 million tons, China Shenhua said in a statement on Friday.

In June, Shenhua said commercial coal production fell 3.3 percent to 17.7 million tons, while sales rose 18.5 percent to 26.3 million tons.