Coal mining enterprises of Ukraine in 2021 increased production of coal by 2% (by 569,500 tonnes) compared to 2020 – to 29.388 million tonnes, according to the data of the Ministry of Energy.
In particular, production of steam coal amounted to 22.153 million tonnes, coking coal – 7.234 million tonnes.
According to the calculations of the Interfax-Ukraine agency, coal mining enterprises, which are part of the ministry’s sphere of management, last year increased production by 1.9 times – up to 5.446 million tonnes, which is largely due to the return from the lease by DTEK of the assets of state enterprise Dobropilliavuhillia.
The mines of Donetsk region in 2021 ensured the production of 11.892 million tonnes of coal (up 5.7% from 2020), Luhansk region – 257,600 tonnes (up 14.2%), Dnipropetrovsk – 16.032 million tonnes (up 0.2%), Lviv – 1.182 million tonnes (down 9.7%), Volyn – 24,400 tonnes (down 28.5%).
In December 2021, production of coal in the country increased by 5.8% compared to the same month in 2020 – to 2.772 million tonnes.
DTEK Energy expects two more ships with 147,000 tonnes of thermal coal from Colombia and the United States to arrive in Ukraine by the end of the week, the company’s press service said.
According to its data, the first ship with 75,000 tonnes of coal from Colombia will arrive at the port of Chornomorsk next Friday, the second – with 72,000 tonnes from the United States will be moored at the TIS port at the weekend.
Coal from the fifth and sixth Panamax class ships that have arrived since the end of November will replenish the warehouses of the company’s TPPs.
“DTEK Energy continues to actively supply coal to the Ukrainian energy system. In addition to the four Panamax ships with imported coal, which have already arrived, have been fully unloaded or are now being sent to Ukrainian thermal power plants, we meet two more ships,” DTEK Energy CEO Ildar Saleev said.
In addition, the company has agreed on an additional ninth vessel. In general, this is about 618,000 tonnes of coal for the needs of Ukrainian thermal power plants. The first ship contracted by the company for the needs of the state-owned TPPs of Centrenergo arrived in Ukraine on November 20. The second, third and fourth Panamax ships with coal for DTEK Energy TPPs arrived on December 5, 16 and 17.
Since the beginning of December, the company has already imported about 200,000 tonnes of coal by sea. For the stable passage of the heating season, the company has contracted more than 1 million tonnes of imported fuel to date.
DTEK Energy is an operating company in charge of coal mining and electricity production from coal within the structure of Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK Holding.
Pavlohradvuhillia and Bilozerska mines, which are part of DTEK Energy, produced 15.2 million tonnes of coal in January-November 2021, which corresponds to the same production volume for the same period in 2020, the press service reported.
In November 2021, production amounted to about 1.5 million tonnes against 1.3 million tonnes in November 2020 (excluding Dobropilliavuhillia, already returned from lease).
DTEK Energy commissioned 28 new longwalls at its mines in 11 months, in November – five.
“DTEK Energy continues to produce maximum coal at its own mines. This is very important for the stability of the Ukrainian energy system during peak periods of consumption. In November, we produced about 1.5 million tonnes of G grade coal and put into operation five new longwalls. Also, the Dniprovske and Heroiv Kosmosu mine administrations have fulfilled the annual production plan ahead of schedule and continue to increase it to the maximum,” CEO of the company Ildar Saleev said.
As reported, DTEK Energy plans to ensure the production of about 17 million tonnes of coal in 2021.
DTEK Energy is an operating company responsible for coal extraction and enrichment, maintenance of mine equipment and power generation in the structure of DTEK Holding of Rinat Akhmetov.
Ukraine in January-October 2021 increased imports of hard coal and anthracite (heading code 2701) by 14.8% (by 2.064 million tonnes) compared to the same period in 2020, to 16.03 million tonnes. According to the State Customs Service, coal was imported for $1.741 billion, which is 21.6% more than in January-October 2020 ($1.432 billion).Coal was received from the Russian Federation for $1.141 billion (share in imports 65.54%), the United States for $322.306 million (18.51%), Kazakhstan for $195.42 million (11.22%), and other countries for $82.329 million (4.73%). Coal exports by Ukraine in January-October 2021 amounted to 4,982 tonnes for $0.8 million, including to Slovakia for $0.768 million, Hungary for $0.018 million, Bulgaria for $0.007 million, other countries for $0.007 million. For the same period of 2020, exports amounted to 2,255 tonnes for $0.186 million, including to Poland for $0.156 million, Moldova for $0.027 million, and Hungary for $0.004 million.
The majority of cement producers in Ukraine are forced to work with minimum margins due to the rise in coal prices by more than two times, the Ukrcement association has reported.
“The price swing for coal this year did not pass us by. The supply contracts were signed last year at an average price of $60 per tonne, and in August, suppliers agreed to ship coal at a price of at least $175 per tonne. This creates significant pressure on the pricing policy. It is impossible to make cheap goods out of expensive components,” Chairman of the Ukrcement association Pavlo Kachur said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the cost of energy is 52-55% of the cost of clinker required for cement production. At the same time, all Ukrainian cement plants have previously been modernized and switched to coal due to the high price of gas.
The situation with the rise in prices for cement in Ukraine due to the rise in prices for coal is not unique and is observed in the markets of other countries, Kachur said.
“For example, Turkish cement producers sharply raised cement prices in July due to the rise in the cost of coal. We proceeded from the fact that we must take into account the needs of consumers. Therefore, some companies significantly minimized margins in order to go through this difficult period with minimal costs for cement plants and the construction market as a whole,” he said.
A modern container terminal could be built in the port of Mariupol (Donetsk region) on the territory of the former coal-loading complex, Ihor Barsky, the head of Mariupol seaport.
“In the long term, we have a dream: to turn the territory of the former coal loading complex of the seaport into a modern container terminal,” he said during the NewPort international exhibition in Kyiv.
Barsky recalled that since 2015, the container flow in the Sea of Azov has been completely stopped. Container lines stopped making calls to Azov after the imposition of European and American sanctions on Crimea.
“Now we are working to return container traffic to Azov. We are supported in this issue by the city, the region, the Ministry of Infrastructure. This is a difficult task, but solvable,” he said.
According to him, at present the port has pre-design studies of this terminal, in the future a feasibility study will be ordered.
“Now we are liquidating the loading complex, selling the equipment that is there, and preparing this serious investment site. How much it will cost – I can’t say yet. We can talk about this when the feasibility study is completed,” Barsky summed up.
