EBITDA for the first nine months of 2019 was PLN 1.8 billion (net of non-recurring events). Coal production in this period amounted to roughly 10.9 million tons and was slightly lower compared to the corresponding period of 2018, which is consistent with Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa’s production assumptions. Coke production in the period in question was 2.5 million tons, down by more than 7% compared to previous year. One should note that last year, until the end of Q3, the Dębieńsko Coking Plant was still active in the Group.
The prices of coking coal and coke remained on a similar level to last year. The average price of coking coal was PLN 676.72 per ton and was nearly three percent higher than in the corresponding period of last year. The same increase was recorded in coke prices, which stood at PLN 1,115.17 per ton.
– The situation on the coking coal and coke market is related to the market for steel and metallurgical products and market trend cycles display big price fluctuations in these sectors. From the beginning of this year we can observe lower demand for steel in the European market, which translates directly into coke and coking coal prices. Additionally, there were certain unfavorable phenomena caused by lack of effective protection of the European steel market, explains Rafał Pasieka, JSW Vice-President for Sales, and adds: – After a period of systematic increases, in September we recorded the first decrease in global steel production, compared to September 2018.
Sales revenues from the coal produced in Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa mines for external customers stood at PLN 3.7 billion, compared to PLN 3.9 billion in the corresponding period of last year. The slight decrease in revenues results from lower coal sales. Sales revenues from coke and hydrocarbons reached PLN 2.9 billion, compared to PLN 3.2 billion for the nine months of 2018, which was caused by lower coke sales. Total sales revenues in the JSW Group in the period in question stood at PLN 6.9 billion.
Despite the symptoms of economic slowdown, investments in the Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa Group remain on a high level. From January to September this year these expenditures amounted to PLN 1.6 billion. At that time, Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa mines continued the key investment projects associated with construction of new and expansion of the existing mining levels and the work associated with opening coal seams, deepening of shafts (including extension of the shaft lift) and preparatory work associated with increasing the commercial utilization of methane.
In November, the Budryk Mine launched excavation works performed by a Bolter Miner. This technology will improve the efficiency of execution of roadway excavations, speed up the accessibility of mining fronts and reduce the costs of material consumption.
– We can observe symptoms of slowdown in the steel, coal and coke market, therefore we assumed that our priority will be the investment projects with the highest profitability and projects of strategic, or even key, importance for building JSW Group’s competitive advantage, leading to optimization of operating expenses, sums up Artur Dyczko, Vice-President for Strategy and Development at JSW.
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The JSW Group is the largest producer of high quality hard coking coal in the European Union and one of the leading producers of coke used for smelting steel. The Company is also one of the largest employers in Poland. At the end of September 2019, it employed in aggregate 30,195 employees.
