Russia's coal output rises to hit intra-year high in Nov

Among hard coal types, Russia's production of coking coal in November reached 8.8 million tonnes, up 12% on month but down 4.3% on year. Anthracite output totalled 1.7 million tonnes, up 7.8% on month but down 12.1% on year.

Meanwhile, output of other hard coal -- mainly thermal coal used for power generation -- came in at 18.2 million tonnes, down 3% on month but up by nearly the same margin on year, the Rosstat data showed.

In the same month, Russia produced 9.3 million tonnes of lignite, up 2.3% on month and 1.7% on year.

Over January-November, Russia's cumulative coal output totalled 389.8 million tonnes, almost unchanged from the same period last year. Of this total, hard coal accounted for 300 million tonnes, down 1.3% on year, while lignite output rose by 5% on year to 89.8 million tonnes, according to the Rosstat data.

Since August, Russia's monthly coal production has been steadily recovering, with some market analysts attributing the continued rebound to support measures from Moscow.

In late May, the Russian government introduced a six-month deferment of mineral extraction tax and insurance premiums for all coal companies, and earlier this month extended the measure to February 28 2026, as Mysteel Global reported.

These measures have significantly eased financial pressure on Russia's domestic coal miners and helped stabilise their coal output, Mysteel Global learned.

By the end of this year, losses in Russia's coal industry are expected to exceed RUB 350 billion ($4.5 billion), Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing Deputy Energy Minister Dmitry Islamov. If confirmed, the figure would more than triple the RUB 112 billion loss recorded in 2024.

Written by Adrian Zhou, zhouwenhaoa@mysteel.com

Edited by Vivian Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com