Russian coal exports fall for the third year in a row. In particular, in 2024, in general, Russian coal miners managed to sell 195 million tons of products to foreign markets - 17.5 million tons less than a year earlier, and 26.2 million tons less than in 2022. This is known from Argus statistics, The Moscow Times reports..

Analysts note that the indicators are negatively affected by market conditions, sanctions, as well as railway infrastructure.

“Unlike oil and gas, which Europe continues to purchase, albeit in small volumes, coal came under a total embargo, and the largest coal companies – SUEK and Mechel – were included in US sanctions lists,” the report says..

In addition, problems with exports worsened due to the railway, which was not ready for the “pivot of the economy to the East”. The shortage of locomotives and drivers coupled with an increase in freight traffic has put the Russian railway on the verge of transport collapse: the average speed on the network has fallen below 35 km/h and has become the lowest since 1991. Many coal companies failed to deliver products as planned.

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In addition, export prices for coal fell to their lowest level in the last 7 years, which made all coal companies in the Russian Federation unprofitable.. Balanced damage amounted to 81 billion rubles ($810 million.

Against this background, in the main coal region - the Kemerovo region of the Russian Federation - at the end of last year, production decreased by 15.8 million tons, to 198.4 million.