Speaking while on a business trip to China, Maxim Basov, the CEO of Siberian Coal Energy Company, SUEK, the largest coal exporter in Russia, said his company is poised to see a significant sales increase in China in 2023.
Basov said SUEK, “intends to more than triple its supplies to the Chinese market” this year, which would increase its total export volume for the year to over 20 tons.
The CEO noted, “The Chinese market is very important for us. Last year our main international market was South Korea and before that the European Union, but this year I think that China will overtake Korea and become our main export market.”
According to him, over the long-term, SUEK may see its coal sales to China increase to 50 million tons per year. He added these numbers are easily possible, if China continues to be willing to purchase coal at attractive prices, and if the zero import duty is continued.
Basov said, “China will continue to import about 300 million tons of coal per year. China’s largest supplier is Indonesia. Russia came in second last year in terms of supplies, and of all the Russian companies, we were the largest.”
Currently touring China on business, the CEO said that just in the last few days, his company has inked a number of long-term contracts to purchase mining equipment from the leading manufacturers in China, to facilitate his company’s increase in production capacity.
He added, “I think in the next few months our supply of mining equipment will grow many times over… In general, our cooperation with China is set to grow both in terms of our exports to the PRC and in terms of equipment imports from China.”
In 2022, Russian exports of coal to China increased by 11.2%, to 59.5 million tons. Moscow made the move as part of a strategy to reorient its trade relationships after the EU banned the purchase of Russian coal, among other Ukraine-related sanctions last year.
As its industrial activity rebounds following the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s consumption of coal is increasing, leading to its increased imports of the fuel.
