Poland’s JSW again cuts its coal production plan for 2024

Polish coking coal producer Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) has revised its 2024 coal production forecast to 12.45 million tonnes due to a longer-than-expected recovery from a mine fire and increased natural hazards. This is stated in the company’s current report.

In July 2024, the company expected to produce 13.07 million tonnes of coal.

In December 2023, the company declared force majeure after a fire at its KWK Pniowek mine. The company has failed to extinguish the fire and is unable to resume operations at longwall No. 10 this year. In addition, the increased intensity of associated natural hazards (methane, fire, water, rock fall, cave-in) and limited options for choosing preventive measures lead to slower use of longwalls, delays in their launch, and in extreme cases, the need to close them, which leads to the loss of some resources.

The launch of the F3 longwall at Borynia-Zofiowka-Bzie coal mine was also delayed, while increased contamination of the extracted raw materials at KWK Pniowek limited the capacity of the concentrator.

In the second quarter of this year, JSW reduced its coking coal sales by 14.1% year-on-year – to 2.27 million tonnes. Its production in the period totalled 2.31 million tonnes, down 14.4% year-on-year and 4.1% compared to Q1 2024. The average selling price of coking coal in PLN decreased by 11% quarter-on-quarter.