According to Argus Media, Russian coal production reached 210 million t in the first half, up by over 5% on the year, on strong exports and higher domestic demand, data from state-run energy information agency CDU TEK show.
Foreign-bound deliveries edged up by 2% on the year to 93.6 million t, while shipments to the domestic market rose by 9% on the year to over 90 million t in January - June.
Output is expected to further increase in the second half, reaching about 420 million t this year, up by 3% from 2017 and exceeding the Russian energy ministry's earlier forecast of 410 million t for 2018. Higher output in the Kemerovo region will provide the large part of the total increase this year. Almost half of the total production or around 200 000 t are expected to be exported, more than 187 million - 188 million t forecast at the start of the year and higher than 181 million t exported in 2017.