Evraz to boost production of K, KO coal
NOVOKUZNETSK. April 16 (Interfax) - Russian steel and mining group Evraz does not plan to increase overall coal production, but it might increase the share of production of coal grades that are in short supply, Evraz vice president and Coal division head Sergei Stepanov told reporters.
"It's not a question of volumes, but of grade composition," Stepanov said when asked if Evraz plans to increase coal production in coming years in light of the restoration of its Raspadskaya mine .
He said Evraz plans to mine 20 million-22 million tonnes of coal in 2015 (including about 10 million tonnes at the mines of its Yuzhkuzbassugol division and 10 million-12 million tonnes at the Raspadskaya division), which is about the same as in 2014 and it plans to maintain production at this level in future.
The company plans to focus more on grades of coal that are in short supply, such as Zh, KO and K (fat, coking lean and coking grade coals). "For these grades we forecast growth [of production] and are working on projects [to increase their production]," Stepanov said.
However, he said that Zh grade coal might no longer be in short supply in two years, but there will still be a shortage of KO coal on the market.
He said the company plans to mine about 4 million tonnes of coal at the Raspadskaya mine in 2015, and 1.5 million tonnes at both the Raspadskaya-Koksovaya and MUK-96 mines.
He noted that the infrastructure at the Raspadskaya mine technically allows for the expansion of production to 7 million-8 million in future, but this does not make sense at present due to the absence of additional markets. The Raspadskaya mine has been mining four faces since October 2014, but in future it might switch to working three faces.
