Russia: Coal output rises 4% m-o-m in Aug’26

• Coking coal production increases by 6% m-o-m, 15% y-o-y
• Coal exports rise 7% in Jan-Aug amid global supply disruptions

Russia’s production of all types of coal for all uses totalled 33.9 million tonnes (mnt) in August, up 3.5% on month and 4.7% on year, according to the latest data from the Russian Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat).

Among hard coal types, production of coking coal reached 9.4 mnt, up 5.8% on month and 15% on year. Production of anthracite increased by 4.7% on month and 46% on year to 1.8 mnt, while that of other hard coal (mainly thermal coal types) stood at 16.1 mnt, up 2.3% on month and almost flat on year.

Meanwhile, Russia also produced 6.5 mnt of lignite in August, up 3% from July but down 3.3% on year, according to Rosstat’s data.

Over January-August, Russia’s cumulative coal production totalled 283 mnt, down 1.1% from the same period last year, the data showed. Production of hard coal and lignite over the eight months accounted for 220 mnt and 63.1 mnt, down 1.3% and 0.4% on year, respectively.

Also over the eight months, Russia’s coal exports grew by 7.2% from the previous year, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. TASS did not provide the specific volume of coal exports over January-August, though.

Rather than reflecting solid growth in global coal demand, the higher export volume for Russia should be attributed more to a series of unexpected incidents this year, noted Sergey Kazachkov, Partner and Deal Advisory at Russian audit and consulting firm, Kept.

Kazachkov pointed to the ongoing Middle East conflict and the resulting global energy crunch, the fatal mine explosion in late May in North China’s Shanxi province and consequent massive mine shutdowns for safety checks, and Indonesia’s tightened control on coal exports, another TASS report quoted him as saying.

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