Argus Russian Coal 2022. CIS and Global Markets

The coal market outlook is discussed in Moscow

The “Argus Russian Coal 2022. FSU and Global Markets” conference was held on 18 February at the InterContinental Moscow Tverskaya Hotel in Moscow. More than 250 participants from 25 countries joined the event, many of them in person.

Elgaugol was the general partner of the conference. The partner was TELF AG, the sponsor was EcoCarbon. The event was supported by Premcoal Group Ltd.

Sergey Sokolov, head of the Argus coal desk, and Alexander Stulishenko, commercial director of Elgaugol, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. The speakers noted the growth in coal exports from Russia and the importance of this fuel for the economy, despite the ongoing changes and challenges associated with the global climate agenda.

“Elgaugol considers China the key coal market for the coming years. In 2021, the company shipped 3.5mn t of coking coal to China, three times more than in the previous year, and is looking to double shipments this year. To this end, it is planned to develop the Elginskoye field in the next three years, increasing production up to 45mn t/yr. However, a lot will depend on the infrastructure of the Far Eastern Polygon," Stulishenko said.

An overview of the global coal market was presented by Alex Thackrah, editor of Argus Coal Daily International. In his report, Thackrah presented the forecasts of Russian coal shipments to Europe, southeast Asia, and north Africa. The topic of Russian coal export outlook in the face of increasing price volatility and imbalances in the global energy market was covered by Sergey Sokolov, Argus.

Strategic challenges for the Russian coal industry in the light of new climate initiatives and instability in the global market were considered by Sergey Mochalnikov, Director of the Department for Foreign Economic Co-operation and Fuel Market Development of the Russian Ministry of Energy.

Ruslan Radjabov, EY representative, spoke about the tax burden in the coal industry.

The global climate agenda and the outlook of the coal industry were covered by Maxim Chursin, Head of the Coal Industry Department of the Analytical Center of the Fuel and Energy Complex "REA" of the Ministry of Energy of Russia, and Valentin Kotlomin, Head of Petrochemicals Consulting, FSU, Argus.

At the second session, the development of regional coal markets was discussed. Representatives of Elgaugol, Vostochnaya Mining Company, T Plus and Argus spoke during the discussion.

Transportation and logistics were the focus of discussions at the final session of the conference. Speakers from the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, SUEK, OTEKO, Port Infrastructure Development Center, Novotrans and Uralvagonzavod presented their reports.

In particular, Alexander Gaganov, commercial director for the development of the bulk and grain business of OTEKO, spoke about the opportunities and prospects of the terminal in the coming years. “In 2021, the terminal increased the shipments of dry bulk more than twice compared with 2020 — 23mn t. Further growth is expected in 2022 as the terminal continues to develop its railway infrastructure, adding more warehouses and powerful lines: reclaimer stackers, conveyor galleries, shiploaders with a capacity of 8,000 t/hour each. With the commissioning of this equipment, the terminal will reach the design capacity for coal transshipment of 5mn t/month,” Gaganov said.

The event ended with a cocktail reception, where guests were able to continue networking in an informal setting.

In addition to the conference participants at the site, delegates who joined the online broadcast got involved in the discussions. They had the opportunity to ask their questions to the speakers using a special digital platform.