Raspadskaya sees no fundamental grounds for market situation to improve

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The management of Raspadskaya does not see any stable, fundamental grounds for a significant improvement in the market situation, despite a short-lived seasonal growth in coal prices on foreign markets.

"In these conditions, it becomes a priority for management to continue reducing costs, raising operational efficiency and maintaining the financial stability of the company," Raspadskaya said in a statement.

The company said that the Russian coal industry was seeing signs of a crisis, with "accelerated cost inflation, a decline in the construction sector due to the high key rate and the termination of the mass preferential mortgage program with state support in July 2024, factors which put pressure on the steel industry in the reporting period and lowered demand for coal". The stronger ruble also made coal exporters less competitive on the global market, while sanctions restrictions cut Russian coal companies off from the European, Japanese and Korean markets, the company said.

These factors had a detrimental effect on the company's financial state. Last year was the first in over a decade that Raspadskaya did not have positive EBITDA, with a result of negative 16.6 billion rubles.