Page 140 - RusRPTJun21

Coal production
Russia’s coal production grew by 7.3% in April 2021 year-on-year to 35mn tonnes, and by 8.5% year-to-date to 143.5mn tonnes.
Domestic coal supplies rose by 17.5% in the reporting period to 13.3mn tonnes. Coal exports added 6.9% last month to 17.96mn tonnes.
Year-to-date deliveries to the domestic market went up by 6.4% to 59.54mn tonnes, whereas export supplies – by 11.3% to 66.5mn tonnes.
Production of the largest coal companies in January-April 2021 amounted to: SUEK – 38.2mn tonnes of coal (up 5%), Kuzbassrazrezugol (part of UMMC) – 11.7mn tonnes (down 8.2%), SDS-Ugol – 6.5mn tonnes (up 5.3%), Vostsibugol – 4.35mn tonnes (down 11.8%), Southern Kuzbass (part of Mechel) – 2.1mn tonnes (down 42.8%), and Yakutugol (part of Mechel) – 1.47mn tonnes (down 25%).
9.1.12 Transport sector news
In May, the Russian railway industry carried 111mnt of cargo and set a new 10y record, beating May 2018’s 110mnt.
The fact the world is still affected by the pandemic makes these numbers even more impressive, in our view. Growth was 10% y/y, 4% higher than in 2019, and 1% above 2018. The main contributors were coal (which increased 2% relative to May 2018), iron ore (7%) and construction materials (4%). Meantime, oil and ferrous metals lost 8% and 9%, respectively, from 2018.
These cargos were still depressed by the pandemic. As volumes improved, gondola rates climbed 3% m/m to RUB770/day. Oil tank rates were up 2% m/m to RUB1,016/day. Overall, 10% y/y growth in May volumes came above the 8% RZD had expected. For June 2021, the monopoly envisages 9% y/y growth, or 4% higher than in June 2019.
Coal. In May, coal volumes were 32mnt, 2% above May 2018. This was driven by the prices of coal approaching their 2018 maxima: in May 2021, FOB Europe was $76/t (vs. $42/t breakeven) and FOB Russian Far East export was $97/t (vs. $47/t).
Oil & oil products. Oil cargos remain constrained by OPEC+ production quotas. In May 2021, volumes of 18mnt were still 8% lower than in May 2018.
Building materials. Construction materials quickly rebounded with the restart of the economy, were 4% higher than in May 2018, at 12mnt.
Metals. Metallurgical cargos were up 1% to May 2018. While ferrous metals declined 9% – because European demand has still not fully recovered – they were compensated by 7% growth in iron ore volumes.
Cost of repairs. Repair expenses (the floor for gondola rates) were RUB430/day, down 20% y/y and flat YTD.
140 RUSSIA Country Report June 2021 www.intellinews.com