Ukrainian coking coal producers have increased their average output to 35,000-38,000 mt of coke per day, due to the decision of domestic steelmakers to replace the use of natural gas in their blast furnace production with coking coal, according to Anatoly Starovoyt, the general director of the Ukrainian coke association UkrKoks.
The Ukrainian coking coal producers had registered their biggest daily production decline in November 2008, when the average daily output decreased to 22,000 mt, from 56,000-57,000 mt of coke per day in August.