Kuzbass Fuel Company boosts coal output by 37% in H1
KEMEROVO. Aug 4 (Interfax) - OJSC Kuzbass Fuel Company (KTK) increased coal production by 37% year-on-year to 3.73 million tonnes in the first half of 2011, the company said in a press release.
The company sold 4.51 million tonnes of coal in the first half, up 28% year-on-year.
The increase was driven by rising exports (up 87%) while sales on the domestic market declined by 23%. Therefore, exports accounted for 68% of sales, up from 47%.
The biggest external market for KTK's coal sales is Poland, accounting for 54% of total exports, followed by China and South Korea (together 52%). In addition, the company sold coal to the Czech Republic and Greece.
The average price for the sale of the company's coal reached 1,165 rubles per tonne in the first half, up 28% from 907 rubles per tonne in the same period of 2010.
The average price for coal on the domestic market, without VAT and railway tariffs, increased by 2 5% to 1,117 rubles per tonne. The average export prices in the first half went up by 29% to 1,187 rubles per tonne.
The company's general director, Igor Prokudin, said that the company has increased its coal production forecast for 2011 to 8 million tonnes from an earlier 7.65 million tonnes.
KTK consists of coal mines Vinogradvosky, Karakhansky-Yuzhny, and Cheremshansky, and distribution networks Kuzbasstoplivosbyt, Transugol, Altaiskaya Toplivnaya Company, and Novosibirskaya Toplivnaya Corporation, and the infrastructural outfits Kaskad-Energo, Anzhero- Sudzhenskaya TETs, and TEK Metret.