Russia: Kuzbass coal output drops by 6% y-o-y in Jan-Aug’25

• Coal producers face financial crisis, 18 companies halt ops
• Moscow grants tax relief to 16 companies to boost growth

Mysteel Global: The cumulative output of all types of coal in Russia’s Kuzbass Basin, the country’s major coal-producing region in southwestern Siberia, totalled 125.3 million tonnes (mnt) over January-August, down 6% from the same period the previous year, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Coal Industry of Kuzbass.

Coal production in the region has been sluggish this year amid the financial crisis permeating the local coal sector. As of early September, 18 out of the 151 coal companies in Kuzbass had suspended operations because of unbearable losses, Kuzbass Governor Ilya Seredyuk said on social media, with another 30 firms in the “red zone”. In late August, the number of suspended companies was 17.

“We’ll see a 10-12 mnt shortfall [by the end of] this year [from last year’s output] if the situation doesn’t change,” Dmitry Islamov, State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Energy, said in an interview with Russian news agency Interfax. The shortfall was equivalent to a 5-6% decline from the 198.4 mnt output of 2024, Interfax calculated.

Moscow has initiated support measures to boost the development of Kuzbass coal companies, with 16 companies having received tax deferrals, TASS reported on 9 September, citing Ilya Seredyuk.

For example, in late June, Mechel, a major coal miner in Kuzbass, obtained a deferral for tax and insurance contribution payments totalling over RUB 13 billion ($155 million) for three years, the longest period available under the arrangement, Interfax reported.

Whether because of Moscow’s support or not, in August, coal output in Kuzbass had recovered to 15 mnt, up 8.7% from July when production had been the lowest for any month this year, the ministry’s data show.

Meanwhile, Kuzbass’s exports of coal to all destinations worldwide also climbed up by 5% from July’s 8 mnt to 8.4 mnt in August. Over January-August, the region’s total coal exports reached 67.6 mnt, still lower by 3.4% from the previous year, numbers from the ministry showed.

Since October 2024, the ministry has stopped publishing production and export data by coal type, Mysteel Global notes.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.