13 Aug 2009 13:01

Kuzbassrazrezugol cuts coal production 9% in 7 mths

KEMEROVO. Aug 13 (Interfax) - Kuzbassrazrezugol Coal Company, or KRU reduced coal production 8.9% year-on-year in January-July to 25.896 million tonnes, the company said.

Coking coal production fell to 1.35 million tonnes in the seven months, from 3.174 million tonnes in the same period of last year.

Coal sales fell to 25.38 million tonnes from 27.5 million tonnes, including 1.57 million tonnes of coking coal. KRU exported 14.8 million tonnes of coal.

KRU, one of Russia's biggest coal producers, operates 11 strip mines in the Kuznetsk basin (Kuzbass). The company mined just over 50 million tonnes of coal in 2008, up 8% from 2007. It is targeting 46 million tonnes, including 1.998 million tonnes of coking coal, in 2009.