Ukraine coal mining falls 5% yoy in 6M13, rises 16% m/m in June
3 July 2013
Ukraine’s coal mining fell 5% yoy to 40.5 mmt in 6M13, Interfax reported on July 2. Steam coal mining declined 5% yoy to 28.6 mmt, and coking coal extraction slid 6% yoy to 11.9 mmt.
Steam coal stockpiles at thermal power plants (TPPs) decreased 6.3% throughout June to 5.3 mmt, though landing at a higher level than a year before (4.1 mmt). Yet the most recent information on TPP steam coal consumption indicates a downward trend: -10.6% yoy to 14.3 mmt in 5M13. Coking coal consumption in Ukraine also dwindled, along with a 10% yoy cut in coke output to 8.8 mmt in 6M13.
Roman Topolyuk: The 6M13 figures imply that coal mining rebounded 16% m/m to 6.7 mmt in June, including 2% growth in coking coal mining (to 1.8 mmt) and 19% growth in steam coal extraction (to 4.8 mmt). The boosted mining activity, combined with elevated stockpiles and low consumption, would prevent the market from recovering soon from its oversupply. The figures merely add more arguments to our expectation that the coal market will remain weak till end-2013. The market conditions for Sadovaya Group (SGR PW) and Coal Energy (CLE PW) thus remain adverse.
