The Russian steel producing and mining company Evraz Group (Evraz) has announced that in 2010, its coking coal output, amounting to about 7.51 million mt, decreased by 27 percent compared to 2009, mainly due to temporary stoppages at its coal mines caused by safety inspections and additional security equipment installation following the accident in May 2010 at Raspadskaya, in which it holds a 40 percent interest. However, in Q4 Evraz started to see a recovery in its coking coal output, leading to a 36.7 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in output. Evraz's coal concentrate production in 2010 dropped by two percent year on year to 6.77 million mt.
At the same time, in 2010, Evraz's CIS region mining segment saw its iron ore concentrate production (Russia) increase by three percent to 5.82 million mt, its pellet production (Russia) rose by 1.8 percent to 5.62 million mt, its lumping ore output (Ukraine) increased by 21.8 percent to 2.04 million mt, while its sinter production (Russia) went down by two percent to about four million mt - all compared to 2009. In addition, Evraz's South African lump ore output went up by 27 percent year on year to 1.72 million mt, while its South African fine ore output increased by 22.6 percent to 601,000 mt.