Russia to boost coal exports annually from 2024, to use logistics capabilities fully - Deputy Energy Minister

MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Although exports of Russian coal in 2023 will not reach the results expected for 2022, they should start rising as of 2024 owing to establishing new logistics routes, Deputy Energy Minister Sergei Mochalnikov said at Russian Energy Week 2022.

He said next year would be devoted to establishing new logistics routes. Russia has done the groundwork to increase shipments to India and China, he said.

Russian coal companies can provide any quality of coal in any quantity, but the question is how to deliver it, he said.

New markets will have to be sought for around a third of Russian coal exports after the EU embargo on coal imports from Russia comes into effect and due to the halt in shipments to Ukraine, which are another 14 million tonnes.

Russian coal exports fell 8.6% in the first seven months of the year but this was but was largely offset by elevated demand in the domestic market, Deputy Russian Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in his column in the Energy Policy magazine.

He said domestic demand had grown by 6.8% since the start of the year to 99.5 million tonnes, due to 14.4% growth in electricity consumption because of low water levels in Siberian rivers.

Rosstat has said Russian coal production fell 1.6% year-on-year in January-August to 277 million tonnes.

The EU and Britain imposed an embargo on coal imports from Russia in the middle of August.

Russian coal exports grew 5.7% to 223 million tonnes in 2021, when the country produced 438.4 million rubles of coal. Exports to Europe rose 10.3% to 50.4 million tonnes or just over half the EU's entire imports. Russian coal exports to China rose 38% to 53 million tonnes.