On December 19, 2021, coal production was suspended at SUEK’s Rubana mine (the Kemerovo Region), due to a fire in the mine face.
The mine’s emergency response mode was launched. All 128 people, who were underground were evacuated to the surface, no one was injured. ‘There will be consequences for SUEK in any case, as the prosecutor’s office and authorities will conduct thorough checks next week’, said State Duma official representing the region.
This is the second coal mine accident in Kuzbass this year. On November 25, the explosion at Listvyazhnaya mine killed 51 people, including 5 rescuers. This accident was the largest in the coal industry in recent years.
After the fatal explosion at Listvyazhnaya, the Governor of Kuzbass Sergei Tsivilev ordered to additionally check all mines in the region for explosion safety. From November 26 to November 29, 31 mines were checked, 449 violations were discovered, 180 cases of administrative violations were opened, 19 orders to eliminate violations and 2 warnings were announced.
Thus, the accidents at Listvyazhnaya and Rubana mines may affect the operations of other coal companies and reduce the availability of high-CV coal, boosting prices.
For the period from January to October 2021, coal extraction at Rubana mine amounted to 3.4 mio t of coal (-0.66 mio t or -16.2% y-o-y).
In 2020, the mine produced 4.2 mio t of coal, around 4% of the total output of SUEK (101.2 mio t). Coal reserves at the mine by the end of 2020 totaled 140 mio t.
Source: CAA Analytics
