Posted on 03 Aug 2022
Kazakhstan has introduced a ban on exports of coal by road for six months effective 1 August, says the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development.
The ban is being introduced to ensure coal is provided to the population for the winter period, as well as for the country’s energy security, the ministry claims.
Neither ArcelorMittal Group nor ArcelorMittal's Kazakhstan-based Temirtau steelworks responded before deadline to Kallanish requests for comment on how this will impact Temirtau coking coal shipments to ArcelorMittal plants outside Kazakhstan.
In June, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) said that thanks to the support of its parent company, the government of Ukraine, and Ukrzaliznytsia, it was able to resume some production operations (see Kallanish passim). Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, AMKR purchased 300,000 tonnes/month of coking coal, with the main supply coming from Kazakhstan. However, now, coal from Temirtau cannot reach it so easily.
Kazakhstan’s coal consumption is estimated at 9.6 million tonnes, of which 2.6mt are for the public sector and 7mt for private use by the population.
Kazakhstan delivered 1.5mt of coal to the EU in January-May, almost twice as much as in the whole of 2021, according to Eurostat. Coal exports to neighbouring countries also increased significantly, in particular, to Kyrgyzstan by 19% on-year and to Uzbekistan by 30%.
Source:Kallanish
