Coal output in Russia's Kuzbass falls 4% MoM in July

On a yearly basis, however, the July output level was higher by 6.5%, mainly reflecting the low comparison basis of 13.8 million tonnes recorded in July 2025, Mysteel Global notes.

According to the ministry's breakdown of coal production by mining method in July, some 10.8 million tonnes of coal were extracted through open-pit mining, up 14% on year, while underground mines produced 3.9 million tonnes, down 9.3% on year.

Over January-July, the combined coal output from the Kuzbass region totalled 107.4 million tonnes, down 2.6% from the same period last year. Output from open-pit mines made up 72.1 million tonnes, up 0.4% on year, while that from underground mines reached 35.4 million tonnes, down 8.3% on year.

As for exports, coal shipments from Kuzbass to all destinations worldwide reached 9.2 million tonnes in July, down 3.2% on month but up 15% on year.

In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of July, Oleg Belozerov, CEO of the state-owned railway operator Russian Railways, had noted that the company would continue to fulfill its coal transport agreement with Kuzbass for this year. Russian Railways had agreed to transport 55 million tonnes of coal from Kuzbass to Russia's export ports in the Far East this year, as reported.

In July, Kuzbass's coal shipments to Far East export ports were up by 0.9% on month at 4.25 million tonnes, yet the volume was 100,000 tonnes lower than the 4.35 million-tonne plan set by Russian Railways for July, according to the ministry's data.

Over January-July, Kuzbass's coal exports to all destinations totaled 64.2 million tonnes, up 8.5% from the same period of last year, Mysteel Global calculated.

Written by Adrian Zhou, zhouwenhaoa@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com