December 2, 2022 - In particular, 120 million mt of coal was produced at opencast mines, down 7.1 percent year on year, while 61.5 million mt of coal was extracted by the underground method, down 14 percent year on year.

During the first ten months of the current year, coal deliveries from the Kuzbass region to end-users amounted to 148.6 million mt, down 13.8 million mt from deliveries in the same period of the previous year. In particular, 98.7 million mt of coal was destined for customers abroad, 26.7 million mt for Russian metallurgical companies and 14.4 million mt for local coal-fired power plants.

As of November 1, coal stocks in Kuzbass rose by 2.6 million mt year on year to 19 million mt, mostly due to the restrictions on export trading caused by Western sanctions.

Meanwhile, in October alone, coal production in Russia’s Kuzbass totaled 19,000 mt, down 12 percent year on year, but in line with the monthly levels during the January-March period of the current year. Specifically, in October coal production amounted to six million mt, down 9.1 percent year on year, while thermal coal output in the given month totaled 13 million mt, down 13.3 percent year on year.