Russia has suspended supplies of steam coal to Ukraine, a market source has told the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
According to the source, shipments were suspended in the evening of 21 November, and the date of resumption is unknown.
The press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry declined Interfax Ukraine’s request for comments on this report. The press service of the DTEK energy holding company, which is currently the largest importer of steam coal from Russia, said it would provide comments later.
As reported, there is a shortage of certain types of steam coal (anthracite and non-baking coal) in Ukraine as a result of the conflict in the Donbas industrial region, where these types of steam coal are mainly mined and where about 2 million tons of such coal is currently held in the warehouses of state-owned mines alone.
The Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry assesses that importation of 1-1.2 million tons of these types of coal is needed per month, of which the Tsentrenergo state power company needs about 330,000-350,000 tons.
In connection with this, Ukraine has organized coal imports from Russia and South Africa. In particular, 250,000 tons of coal from South Africa was planned for delivery to Tsentrenergo’s thermoelectric power plants at the cost of USD 86 per ton (USD 110-112 per ton, taking account of the costs of loading and unloading of vessels, transportation, and other costs) by the end of 2014. In addition, contracts have been concluded for supply of 509,000 tons of coal of Russian origin at the price of USD 80 per ton (excluding delivery costs) by the end of this year. Agreements have also been concluded for supply of 320,000 tons of Ukrainian coal at the price of UAH 850 per ton (excluding VAT and transport costs).
DTEK’s General Director Maksym Tymchenko told reporters on 14 November that the energy holding company intended to import about 2.6 million tons of coal from Russia this year to cover the current shortage of steam coal in the country. According to him, DTEK had already imported 1.3 million ton of steam coal from Russia as of mid-November.
