Kazakh coal output down by 6.1% in 1H2016, up by 6.7% in monetary value

Retail coal prices increased by 9.2% year on year in Kazakhstan.

A total of 45m tonnes of coal and coal concentrate was produced in the first half of 2016, 6.1% down year on year.
Only the production of lignite increased by 12.1% year on year to 1.6m tonnes while the output of bituminous coal decreased by 5.5% and that of coal concentrate was down by 17%.

All three key coal-producing regions cut production: Pavlodar Region by 5.4% to 27.6m tonnes, Karaganda Region by 6.4% to 15.5m tonnes and East Kazakhstan Region by 11.6% to 1.9m tonnes.

Only Almaty Region increased output by 12.2% to 23,900 tonnes.

The value of coal produced increased by 6.7% to KZT90.8bn as the fall in output was offset by increase in price and depreciation of the tenge.
Value increased most in Pavlodar Region – by KZT5.1bn or 12.4% to KZT46.6bn.

The price of coal stood at KZT9,500 per tonne in the Kazakh consumer market at the end of heating season (in April 2016), a 9.2% increase in annual terms.
The highest price of coal was in Uralsk (KZT13,000 per tonne like a year ago) and the lowest in Pavlodar (KZT6,600 per tonne). At the same time, the sharpest increase in prices was observed in Pavlodar Region – by 36.1% year on year.

In June coal prices increased by 9.2% year on year but did not change compared to May. The prices fell by 0.2% compared to December 2015 but increased by 49.2% compared to December 2010.