Ukraine increased imports of coal, including anthracite, by 20% YoY, to 15.64 million tons in January-September from 13.03 million tons a year ago, the State Customs Service reported.
If measured by value, imports of coal increased by 15%, to $2.19 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in January-September 2017, S&P Global Platts wrote.
Most of the coal imports, 62.7%, came from Russia, but also from the U.S. (30.6%) and Canada (4%), according to the service.
In September Ukraine imported 1.48 million tons of coal, down from 1.81 million tons in September 2017, but up from 1.27 million tons in August.
Ukraine increased coal imports amid declining domestic production, according to the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry.
The country extracted 24.85 million tons of coal in January-September, down by 5% YoY from the 26.15 million tons produced a year ago.
Ukraine’s thermal power plants and heat producers accumulated 1.89 million tons of coal in stocks as of October 8, up by 22% from 1.55 million tons stashed as of October 8, 2017, according to the ministry.
The government earlier this year set a target to accumulate 2.6 million tons of coal by November 1 in stocks for the upcoming high-demand season. (UNIAN/Ukrainian metal)