Having faced serious challenges while doing business after the introduction of Western sanctions, Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK), Russia's largest coal producing corporation, has continued to search for ways to facilitate its business conditions. In particular, during the International Coal Forum "Coal Industry: New Realities", which was held in Kuzbass, the company has placed a strong emphasis on the consequences of sanctions and has appealed to the country's government to provide any guarantees towards the maintenance of export volumes in 2023 year. “In order to maintain the profitability of enterprises in Kuzbass and other coal-mining regions of Siberia that produce high-quality products, government decisions are highly required in the field of logistics, export support and engineering,” Maksim Basov, CEO of SUEK stated. “Without a significant reduction in costs, it is impossible to maintain production and export volumes, and social stability in coal-mining regions depends on these parameters,” he added.
Although certain developments have been unfolded, in particular the modernization of the Eastern polygon of Russian Railways and the implemented program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for import substitution of critical equipment for the industry, the positions of Russian coking coal suppliers in the export destinations have remained severely affected. Specifically, in order to secure an order the company is forced to give a discount of 50 percent and above compared to the similar products from Australia. “We started a “turn to the East” in advance - we invested in the growth of capacity of our Far Eastern ports and mining enterprises, primarily the Daltransugol terminal in Vanino, a coal mine and a processing plant in the Khabarovsk Territory,” Maxim Basov noted.
In 2021, the company produced 102.5 million mt of coal, SteelOrbis has learned. Meanwhile, in the 2021 year, the company's shipments of coal abroad amounted to 54.5 million mt, up one percent year on year, while sales to the domestic market increased by seven percent year on year, to 63 million mt.