The Russian coal mining company Belon Group (Belon) has announced that, despite the unfavorable influence of external factors, it is expecting a stable 2009 due to the sale agreements it has concluded with Russian and foreign steel producers.
A number of long-term agreements for the supply of coking coal, signed with local steel producers as Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), Mechel and Ural Steel, will allow Belon to operate at full capacity in the first quarter of 2009 and in much of the first half of the year.
Moreover, Belon has also signed a supply agreement with a Southeast Asian coking coal consumer, the name of which has not been disclosed. Deliveries under this agreement are to start in February 2009.
Currently, Belon is in talks with foreign companies with a view to concluding other supply agreements for coking coal.