Power plant coal stockpiles decline 9% mom in January

Coal stockpiles at Ukrainian thermal power plants fell 9% yoy to 5.21 mmt though remained 53% higher yoy as of end-January, Interfax reported on Feb 12. The biggest decline occurred in the coffers of power plants that burn anthracite coal: -12% mom to 2.77 mmt (still 46% above year-ago levels).

Alexander Paraschiy: We see these statistics as slightly encouraging for Sadovaya Group (SGR PW), which produces anthracite coal and has had trouble supplying it to power plants since mid-autumn. With destocking in January and the relatively cold February, we see that demand for steam coal can recover this month to the benefit of small non-integrated miners like Sadovaya and Coal Energy (CLE PW).