Raspadskaya Coal Company (Raspadskaya), the second largest coking coal producer in Russia and a subsidiary of domestic steelmaker Evraz Group, has announced its preliminary operating results for 2008.
Accordingly, in 2008 Raspadskaya's total raw coal output amounted to 9.4 million mt - down 31 percent year on year. Possessing all necessary technological means, Raspadskaya had planned to significantly increase its production volume from October 2008. However, as demand from steelmakers dropped due to the financial crisis, in Q4 2008 the company registered a 53 percent drop in its raw coal output to 1.39 million mt, compared with Q3.
Meanwhile, Raspadskaya's total sales of coal concentrate amounted to 7.03 million - down 20 percent year on year, while the weighted average price of the product in question for 2008 was more that two times higher than the price in 2007, registering an increase of 120 percent to Ruble 4,010/mt ($161/mt) on FCA Mezhdurechensk basis. However, due to the financial crisis in Q4 the average concentrate price decreased by 46 percent compared with Q3, to the level of Ruble 3,282/mt ($120/mt) on FCA Mezhdurechensk basis.
In line with the comapny's strategy to increase sales of coal concentrate produced by its own facilities as a higher added value product, sales of raw coal were at a minimum level in 2008, totaling 243,000 mt - down 87 percent year on year.