Import of coking coals to Ukraine grew over 5 months

Imports of coking coals to Ukrainian coke plants in January–May 2019 amounted to 5.07 million tons. According to Ukrmetallurgprom, this is 5% up from the same period of the last year.

At the same time export of Ukrainian coking coals in the five months fell by 5%, down to 1.12 million tons. Therefore, Ukraine’s mining & metals sector received 6.19 million tons of coking coal, 3% up from the same period of 2018.

The share of imported coal in the total supply volume over the 5 months of 2019 increased by 1.5 percentage points, up to 81.9%.

In May, shipments of Ukrainian coal to plants increased by 27% compared to April (up to 230 thousand tons), while imports of coking coals decreased by 6%, down to 1.06 million tons.

At the same time, coke shipments to plants in dry weight reduced by 1% over the five months, down to 4.03 million tons. The share of imported coke in the total supply volume grew to 7.4% from 6.3% in the same period of 2018.

Plants bought 3.73 million tons of Ukrainian coke, 2% down from January–May 2018. Imports increased by 18%, up to 300 thousand tons.

As reported earlier, in April, the Russian Federation banned export of anthracite and coking coals to Ukraine.

The key question: what does the ban on the supply of coking coals mean?