Russian integrated steelmaker and mining giant Evraz' April-June consolidated raw coking coal production output rose 16.2% year on year to 5.04 million mt, the company said in a press release Wednesday.
Much of this was driven by strong production at Raspadskaya, a subsidiary of Evraz, where raw coal output rose by 51.1% year on year to 2.57 million mt. This negated lower output from the Yuzhkuzbassugol unit of Evraz, where raw met coal output fell by 6.3% year on year to 2.47 million mt.
Quarter on quarter, consolidated raw coking coal output by Evraz was up 6.6%.
Strong production by Raspadskaya was also evident in the coking coal concentrate segment, though this was not sufficient to lift Evraz' consolidated output in the second quarter at 3.38 million mt, which fell by 2.5% year on year but up 3% quarter on quarter.
Raspadakaya increased its coking coal concentrate output to 1.51 million mt in April-June, a rise of 11.7% year on year and a 35.2% quarter on quarter.
However, coking coal concentrate output fell sharply -- by 5.9% year on year and 13.1% quarter on quarter -- at the Yuzhkuzbassugol unit to 1.37 million mt. This was attributed to lower concentrate yield as a result of replacement of low ash coal from the Uskovskaya mine, which was closed for repositioning of a longwall in Q2, the company said.
The miner reported a decline in average selling prices for its raw and coking coal concentrates. Raw coking coal was sold at an average of $46/mt ex-works in Q2 which was down $14/mt on the year and $5/mt on the quarter.
Prices also fell for coking coal concentrate. The miner sold at $73/mt ex-works in April-June, which was down $17/mt year on year and $8/mt quarter on quarter. Much of the decrease in concentrate prices was attributed to "lower export prices," the company said.
