OREANDA-NEWS. On October 12, Raspadskaya coal-mine released preliminary Q307 operating results. According to these data, aggregate coal output climbed 10% quarter-on-quarter to 3.68 mln tons.

Aggregate coal production surged 46% y-o-y to 3.68 mln tons and 10% q-o-q. In the opinion of experts of Finam, an investment company, in FY07 the coal maker could meet its production target of 13 mln tons. Given that coking coal prices are currently high, this could prop up the company's financials and sales could top $650 mln.

Total coal concentrate sales shot up 48% on the year-earlier period. In particular, coal concentrate exports climbed 52% on Q306 thanks to stronger demand. Meanwhile, concentrate exports dropped 22% compared to Q207 due to higher domestic sales as a result of much stronger demand for coal products on the part of Russian metal makers.

According to experts' estimates, Raspadskaya's preliminary operating results underscore that in FY07 the company plans to outpace its production target and extract around 13 mln tons of coking coal.