Russian met coal producer Kolmar Coal Mining Company plans to introduce a new coking coal with its Deni Creek brand mined in South Yakutia, General Director of KLS AG Anna Tsivileva said.
The first trial shipment of 15,000 mt will be loaded in July, to be delivered to China.
Deni Creek is a Russian low-volatile HCC with the specifications 21-23% VM, 0.4% sulfur, 98-99% vitrinite and 55-60 ppm fluorine. The CSR is understood to be around 45%.
Kolmar is planning to produce 1 million mt of run-of-mine Deni Creek coal in 2017, then ramp up production to 3-4 million mt in 2018.
The gradual expansion of Kolmar's metallurgical coal production is due to its increased washplant capacity. Kolmar is expected to operate four washplants by 2018. Its first washplant, the 2 million mt/year Inaglinsky-1 in Neryungri, was officially opened on May 31, 2016.
In addition to Deni Creek, Kolmar is already producing Inaglinsky, a Russian mid-volatile HCC of KZh grade under Russian classification, with the specifications 27% VM, 0.3% sulfur, 98-99% vitrinite and minimum 5,000-6,000 max fluidity.
Kolmar is targeting Asian markets such as China, India, Japan and South Korea for its Deni Creek coal, as well as Europe if arbitrage opportunities exist.
Asia is the largest seaborne metallurgical coal importing region in the world. China, India, Japan and South Korea between them account for 79% of the 63 million mt traded globally in 2016.
Presently, Kolmar is utilizing the port of Nakhodka for its Deni Creek coal, while negotiating to use the Vostochny Port.
As of end of 2019, Kolmar is expected to ship from its own port terminal in Muchka Bay, Vanino, in Russia's Far East. It will have the initial capacity to ship 12 million mt/year, with potential to double by 2023.
Kolmar, founded in 2004, has total balance coal reserves of 1.03 billion mt in South Yakutia.
Russia was the world's fourth largest metallurgical coal exporter in 2015 with 25.2 million mt, accounting for 8% of global coking coal exports, according to a CBA report in April 2016.
