OREANDA-NEWS. Kuzbasskaya Toplivnaya Company OJSC, one of the largest producers and exporters of thermal coal in Russia, today operating results under IFRS for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.

In the first quarter of 2015 the Company produced 2.88 million tonnes of coal, which corresponds to the previously published production plan. Coal production fell by 5% quarter-over-quarter and grew by 25% year-over-year. The volume of commercial products went down by 6%, to 2.54 million tonnes. Compared to the year-ago quarter, the volume of the Company's commercial products rose by 26%.

Coal processing amounted to 2.09 million tonnes, which is 14% less than in the previous quarter and 22% more than in the first quarter of 2014. First quarter total coal washing rose by 5%, to 0.88 million tonnes, of which 58% belongs to the Kaskad 2 washing plant. Due to the increasing volume of shipments to markets in the Asia-Pacific region, compared to the first quarter of 2014, the company produced 21% more washed coal. Along with the increased load of the washing facilities, Kaskad 1 washing plant was modernizd, thanks to which dense medium separation was added to the steeply inclined separation technology used earlier.

Coal sorting volume dropped by 23% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014 and amounted to 1.21 million tonnes. Compared to the first quarter of 2014, however, this indicator went up by 23%. Additional volumes of sorted coal were sent to the Polish market, where the companyis actively developing its own sales network.

The volume of stripping in the first quarter of 2015 was 14.96 million cbm and grew by 4% quarter-over- quarter. The volume of blasted rock mass was 8.92 million cbm, an increase of 3% for the quarter. The share of blasted rock in the stripping was 60%. First-quarter average stripping transportation distance stood at 2.70 km, 8% more than in the previous quarter. The average stripping ratio in the first quarter saw an 11% growth and reached 5.20 which is 2% above what was planned. Compared to the first quarter of 2015, the stripping ratio declined by 20%.