- JSW targets higher coking coal output and lower mining costs by 2029
- Steel-sector weakness and low coking coal prices continue to pressure profitability
Poland-based JSW, the European Union’s largest coking coal producer, has adopted a 2026-2035 Remedy Programme aimed at restoring profitability and financial stability. Under the programme, the company intends to maintain and gradually increase coal production while increasing coking coal’s share of its output.
The programme comes as JSW faces severe financial pressure from a prolonged downturn in Europe’s steel industry, unfavourable market conditions and falling global coking coal prices. JSW Group ended 2025 with a net loss of PLN 6.25 billion ($1.6 billion). In the first half of 2026, its net loss reached PLN 1.04 billion, including PLN 427.5 million in Q2, according to company data.
Under the programme, JSW plans to increase total coal production from 13 million tonnes in 2025 to 14 million tonnes in 2029, with output thereafter expected to remain at around 14.1 million tonnes per year. Meanwhile, the share of coking coal in total coal output is targeted to rise from 85% in 2025 to 94% in 2029, underscoring the company’s focus on its core coking coal business.
The programme also targets a reduction in the mining cash cost (MCC), which is expected to fall from PLN 738.02/tonne in 2025 to PLN 587.86/t in 2026 and PLN 560.16/t in 2029.
Another key element of the Remedy Programme is aligning workforce levels with the target production volume. JSW plans to cut its workforce from more than 20,000 employees to below 16,000. Around 4,200 employees are expected to leave in 2026 through statutory safety-net mechanisms, including miners’ leave, leave for coal-processing workers, and one-off cash severance payments.
The programme also sets out several other key measures, including improving liquidity, tighter control over capital spending, asset disposals and organizational restructuring. It also covers JSW’s coke-producing subsidiary, JSW KOKS, which plans to stabilize coke production at around 3.4 million tonnes per year while optimizing its operations and workforce.
JSW reported relatively strong coal production in the first half of 2026. According to company data, its mines produced 6.5 million tonnes of coal, up 4.2% on year, while coke production increased 1.1% to 1.4 million tonnes.
In Q2, coal output was more than 3.2 million tonnes, broadly stable from Q1, and coal sales to external customers totalled more than 2.05 million tonnes, up 8.7% from Q1. Coke production fell 10.9% to under 0.7 million tonnes, while coke sales declined 10.7% to nearly 0.7 million tonnes.
Note: The article is published as part of a content sharing agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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