Raspadskaya cuts coal production 13% to 6.3 mln tonnes in 2011
MOSCOW. Jan 13 (Interfax) - OJSC Raspadskaya cut coal production 13% to 6.25 million tonnes in 2011, the company said in a press release.
In December, Raspadskaya announced a yearly production forecast of 6.4 million tonnes - 25% below the 8.5-million-tonne forecast announced at the start of 2011.
In Q4 2011, all of the company's enterprises produced a combined 1.58 million tonnes, 31% more than in the previous quarter thanks to the launches of face 4-7-25 at the Raspadskaya mine and face 5-15-22 at the MUK-96 mine.
Production and sales figures for Q4 2011 could have been higher, but they were temporarily adjusted downward due to an agreement with consumers to reduce supplies, caused by unstable conditions on the market for coke and metallurgical products in the second half of December, the press release said.
Production at the flagship Raspadskaya mine was carried out at two faces over the course of the year and totaled 1.25 million tonnes. Production deviated from the company's plans because it took longer than expected to coordinate with design institutes and to receive permission from regulators, and also due to the labor-intensive work involved in cutting trees down for mining.
Production at the mine grew to 229,000 tonnes in Q4 2011, exceeding Q3 production by 63%.
For Q4 2011, sales of semi-hard coal concentrate totaled 970,000 tonnes, and sales of raw hard coking coal came to 150,000 tonnes.
Overall coal product sales (semi-hard coal concentrate and raw hard coking coal) totaled 4.69 million tonnes for 2011.
The actual sale price for semi-hard coal concentrate in Q4 2011 was 4,685 rubles ($150) per tonne on the FCA Mezhdurechensk basis. For 2011 as a whole, it was 4,679 rubles ($159.2).
The output ratio of concentrate at the enrichment plant was 75.8% in December and 73.3% for all of 2011.
Raspadskaya coal production and concentrate sales in 2011, 1,000 tonnes:
| Q4 | Q4/Q3, as % | 2011 | 2011/2010, as % | |
| Total raw coal production | 1 582 | 31 | 6 251 | - 13% |
| Concentrate sales - Russia | 936 | 1 | 3 702 | - 10% |
| Concentrate sales - export | 33 | (None sold in Q3) | 33 | Down 97% |
| Weighted average price of concentrate (FCA Mezhdurechensk), rubles per tonne | 4 685 | - 3,6% | 4 679 | 36% |
Raspadskaya mines coking coal at the eponymous mine, Russia's biggest. The Raspadskaya group also includes the MUK-96 deep mine, Raspadskaya pit mine, the Raspadskaya-Koksovaya mine now under construction, a coal preparation plant and infrastructure enterprises.
The company's flagship mine was rocked by several explosions in May 2010 that killed 91 people. The company has resumed production in some sections of the mine unaffected by the blasts, but isolated areas of the seam hit by the explosions were still smoldering not long ago.
Currently, 20% of Raspadskaya's shares are in free float, and Cyprus-based Corber Enterprises Limited owns a controlling stake of 80%. Corber Enterprises Limited's beneficiaries on an equal footing are Raspadskaya's management, headed by Gennady Kozov and chairman of the board of directors Alexander Vagin, and Evraz Group. Since the beginning of 2011, the main beneficiaries had been looking for someone to purchase their stake. However, in the fall they announced that negotiations would be halted for the next year and a half.