Mechel planning to boost coal production to 23 mln tonnes in 2018
MOSCOW. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Mechel is planning to boost coal production to 23 million tonnes in 2018, CEO Oleg Korzhov said in a conference call for investors.
The company had issued a similar forecast for 2017, however, actual production volumes will be lower. In H1 the Group produced 10.3 million tonnes of coal and a growth of around 10% is anticipated in H2, Korzhov said. This means that Mechel could have coal output of around 21.6 million tonnes in 2017, down from 22.7 million tonnes in 2016.
Korzhov said that output at the Elginskoye field will remain at the same level as this year - 4.5 million tonnes; currently full capacity.
Yakutugol will also maintain production at its 2017 level - 8-8.5 million tonnes. Korzhov said that the drop in production at Yakutugol had been expected due to a decline in coal bed capacity. Capacity can only be increased at Yakutugol through major investment which is not currently a company priority.
Production at South Kuzbass could be around 10 million tonnes in 2018.
Shipment of coal products was 8.8 million tonnes in H1; loading is due to increase to 9-9.2 million tonnes in H2, Korzhov said.
Commenting on the situation regarding shipments via the Port of Posyet, he said that the company was really affected by problems in railway transportation to the East in the second week of August due to adverse weather conditions. Mechel redirected some of the coal headed to Posyet to the ports of Temryuk and Vanino, however, the company still built up a small amount of unshipped goods. "I think that we will make up for this in September. This situation did not have a dramatic impact on shipments," the company chief said.