In the January-September period of the current year, coal production in Russia's Kuzbass region amounted to 162.5 million mt, down 9.3 percent year on year, according to the coal industry ministry of Kuzbass. Specifically, coking coal production in the given period totaled 48.4 million mt, down 7.1 percent, while thermal coal output declined by 10.2 percent to 114.1 million mt.
In particular, 106.7 million mt of coal was produced at opencast mines, down 7.3 percent year on year, while 55.8 million mt of coal was extracted by the underground method.
During the first nine months of the current year, coal shipments from the Kuzbass region to the end-users amounted to 132.6 million mt, down 10.5 percent year on year, comprising 88.1 million mt destined for customers abroad, down 15.5 percent year on year, 24.1 million mt for Russian metallurgical companies, down eight percent year on year, and 12.8 million mt to the local coal-fired power plants, up 12.3 percent year on year.
As of October 1, coal stocks in Kuzbass rose by 2.9 million mt year on year to 18.9 million mt, mostly due to the restrictions on export trading caused by Western sanctions.