Warsaw (Platts)--4Apr2011/825 am EDT/1225 GMT
Poland's state-controlled hard coal mining sector recorded a near sevenfold increase in net profit in the first two months of this year while production fell 4.7%, according to preliminary figures released Monday by the Industrial Development Agency. The sector earned Zloty 412.4 million ($145.4 million) in January and February, compared with Zloty 59.2 million in the same period of 2010. Hard coal prices grew by more than 18% compared with the year earlier period. The average price at the end of February this year was Zloty 330.03/mt (Zloty 324.31/mt for domestic sale and Zloty 390.60/mt for export). "If we look at the prices on the global market we see that steam coal prices also increased strongly. As far as possible, companies are trying to keep pace with the rising prices and take advantage of the market conditions. That is the reason for the good results," Joanna Strzelec-Lobodzinska, deputy economy minister, told journalists in Katowice, state news agency PAP reported. "I hope that we will also be able to say at the end of this year that it was a good year for coal mining," she added. This article continues below... Platts coal is now on Twitter Follow @PlattsCoal on Twitter to see breaking coal news, price assessments and analysis, as well as links to exclusive Platts coal stories and new media content.
Poland's state-controlled hard coal mining sector recorded a near sevenfold increase in net profit in the first two months of this year while production fell 4.7%, according to preliminary figures released Monday by the Industrial Development Agency. The sector earned Zloty 412.4 million ($145.4 million) in January and February, compared with Zloty 59.2 million in the same period of 2010. Hard coal prices grew by more than 18% compared with the year earlier period. The average price at the end of February this year was Zloty 330.03/mt (Zloty 324.31/mt for domestic sale and Zloty 390.60/mt for export). "If we look at the prices on the global market we see that steam coal prices also increased strongly. As far as possible, companies are trying to keep pace with the rising prices and take advantage of the market conditions. That is the reason for the good results," Joanna Strzelec-Lobodzinska, deputy economy minister, told journalists in Katowice, state news agency PAP reported. "I hope that we will also be able to say at the end of this year that it was a good year for coal mining," she added.
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Poland's state-owned mines recorded net profits of Zloty 1.16 billion in 2010, more than Zloty 1 billion of which was accounted for by just one miner, the country's largest coking coal producer Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa. Coal production in the first two months of 2011 fell to 11.1 million mt from 11.7 million mt in the same period of 2010. Sales grew 8% to 11.7 million mt from 10.9 million mt. The growth was accounted for mainly by a 17% rise in domestic sales. Exports in the period fell by more than 40% to 1 million mt. At the end of February around 3 million mt of coal was stockpiled at Polish collieries compared to 5.2 million mt a year earlier. --Adam Easton, newsdesk@platts.com