KRU to keep coal production flat in 2014
KEMEROVO. Feb 5 (Interfax) - Kuzbassrazrezugol Coal Company (KRU) plans to mine more than 43 million tonnes of coal in 2014, the CEO of KRU's management company LLC UMMC Holding, Andrei Kozitsyn said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"We plan to maintain coal production at KRU mines at the 2013 level," Kozitsyn said, adding that the company currently has 5 million tonnes of inventory that was mined in 2013.
This is because last year KRU's mines meet production targets, but the company had problems shipping out coal due to the operations of Russian Railways (RZD) . Now owners of rolling stock, shippers and RZD have reached an agreement that enabled KRU to fully meet all obligations on coal deliveries to customers in January, Kozitsyn said.
He said the company plans to export two thirds of the coal it mines in 2014, including an unprecedented 12 million tonnes to countries in the East. "The East was always at a level of 4.5 million tonnes, maximum 6 million tonnes for us," Kozitsyn added.
KRU mined 43.8 million tonnes of coal in 2013, compared to 45.5 million tonnes in 2012. It was reported earlier that the company had planned to maintain production at the previous year's level in 2013.
KRU, Russia's second biggest coal miner, is developing 17 deposits in the Kuznetsk Basin. The company includes the Kedrovsky, Mokhovsky, Bachatsky, Krasnobrodsky, Taldinsky and Kaltansky open pit mines, the Baykaimskaya mine and three stand-alone business units - Avtotrans, Salair Mining Production and Geologiya.