Coal output in Siberia slumps 4% in Q2, miners bracing for negative trends to continue - CBR

KEMEROVO. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Coal production in Siberia fell 4.4% year-on-year and a seasonally adjusted 6.1% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2025 due to a drop in world coal prices, the stronger impact of sanctions and weaker demand on the Asian market, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said in its September report on the regional economy.

Coal output in Russia's largest coal mining region, the Kuznetsk Basin in Kemerovo Region, plunged almost 16% year-on-year in July after falling 6% in June. The region reduced coal exports by 5.6% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2025 and shipments to the domestic market fell almost 8%, primarily due to a drop in demand from Russian steel companies. An increase in shipments to Russian power companies "only partially compensated for coal miners' losses in shipments for export," the CBR said.

The number of coal industry enterprises that suspended operations increased from 10 to 17 in June-July, and the number of vacancies in the industry fell by 40% compared to the start of the year.

"Siberian coal miners are preparing for the continuation of negative trends at least until the end of the year. For example, a large Siberian producer announced in June that it might reduce sales by a quarter in 2025 and already started reducing production, optimizing costs," the report said.

Russia's Energy Ministry expects coal production in Kemerovo Region to fall by 10 million-12 million tonnes or 5%-6% this year compared to 2024, when the region produced 198.4 million tonnes. The Kuznetsk Basin saw coal output drop 7.4% year-on-year to 110.3 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2025, but at the end of August the regional authorities announced plans to maintain coal production at the 2024 level this year.

The region mined 255.3 million tonnes of coal in 2018, 220.7 million tonnes in 2020 and 223.6 million tonnes in 2022.