Raspadskaya cuts Q1 coal output 10% to 2.89 mln tonnes
MOSCOW. April 27 (Interfax) - Raspadskaya cut coal production 10% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2017 to 2.886 million tonnes, the company said in preliminary operating results.
Production fell "because mining assets were at maximum capacity in Q4 2016 and kept stockpiles high, as well as due to the planned longwall move at the Raspadskaya mine in Q1 2017," the company said.
In year-on-year terms, raw coal production rose 28% "following successful efforts to increase work rates at the Raspadskaya, Raspadskaya-Koksovaya and Razrez Raspadsky mines," it said.
In Q1 2017, sales of coking coal concentrate rose by 4% quarter-on-quarter (up 11% year-on-year) to 1.7 million tonnes. The breakdown of coking coal concentrate sales for the quarter returned to usual levels (40% domestic sales, 60% exports) amid a reduction in domestic sales to 678,000 tonnes (down 9% quarter-on-quarter). This was because some Russian metals and mining companies increased their consumption of internally sourced raw materials, whereas in Q4 2016 these volumes were exported, Raspadsksya said.
Preliminary operating results in '000 tonnes, concentrate sale prices in rubles/tonne for Q1 2017:
| Q1 2017 | Q1 2017/Q4 2016 | Q1 2017/Q1 2016 | |
| Total raw coal production | 2 886 | -10% | 28% |
| Total sales of concentrate | 1 696 | 4% | 11% |
| - in Russia | 678 | -9% | 13% |
| - export | 1 018 | 14% | 10% |
| Total sales of raw coal | 92 | 7-fold | 36% |
| Price(FCA Mezhdurechensk) | 7 294 | 15% | 127% |
PJSC Raspadskaya will keep coal production this year roughly level with 2016 but sees the potential to raise it 1 million tonnes from 2018 if coal prices stay high, CEO Sergei Stepanov said on March 24.
Coal production came to 10.5 million tonnes in 2016, up slightly from 10.4 million tonnes in 2015.
The Raspadskaya group comprises an integrated coking coal mining complex, including the country's largest deep mine - the Raspadskaya deep mine, MUK-96 deep mine, Razrez Raspadskaya open-pit mine, the Raspadskaya-Koksovaya mine, a washing plant and infrastructure units.
Evraz owns 82% of Raspadskaya, and another 18% is traded on the Moscow Exchange.
