Raspadskaya Coal Company (Raspadskaya), the second largest coking coal producer in Russia and a subsidiary of domestic steelmaker Evraz Group, has announced that in the first quarter of 2010 its total raw coal output increased by 61 percent year on year to 3.03 million mt, indicating an improvement in its operations.
In Q1 2010, Raspadskaya increased its sales of concentrate by 72 percent year on year to 2.23 million mt, but saw a decrease of 10 percent quarter on quarter as a result of abnormal cold weather conditions over a long period and due to technical disruptions to production.
Raspadskaya's first quarter deliveries to the Russian domestic market amounted to 1.58 million mt - up 64 percent year on year, representing about 70.75 percent of its overall concentrate sales.
"Completion of deliveries in Q1 2010 and changes in the global contractual system stimulated strong commercial activity in the Russian coal market," Raspadskaya CEO Gennady Kozovoy commented.
Taking into account the price change in the Russian market in February-March this year, in the first quarter Raspadskaya increased its weighted average price for coking coal concentrate by 14 percent quarter on quarter to Ruble 2,989/mt ($100/mt) on FCA Mezhdurechensk basis. Compared to Q1 2009, the price saw an increase of 112 percent.
For Q2 2010, Raspadskaya has already its fixed sales price for the Russian market at the level of Ruble 3,800/mt ($130/mt) on FCA Mezhdurechensk basis for semi-hard coking coal, and expressed its readiness to discuss longer contract lengths.
In April 2010, Raspadskaya took part in the first coking coal exchange trading in Russia, selling its production at the average price of Ruble 3,828/mt on FCA Mezhdurechensk basis.
Meanwhile, while meeting its contractual obligations with Russian customers, Raspadskaya increased its first quarter export sales by 94 percent year on year to 653,000 mt. In Q1 2010, the company's export sales share to Ukraine and Asia amounted to about 40 and 60 percent respectively of its total export sales volume. Raspadskaya said that it has also concluded new contracts with clients from Japan, China and South Korea.