The Polish coal company Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW) will continue strategic investment and commissioning of new coal production facilities, said its president Barbara Piontek.
Strategic investments will continue - incl. construction of a new mine, Jastrzembe-Bze, as well as drilling of new workings to ensure the availability of coal and the modernization of plants for mechanical processing of coal. Key investments also include investments aimed at achieving energy independence of JSW - through the use of captured methane and coke oven gas, as well as the construction of a power unit and modernization of the coke oven battery at the coke plant in Radlin.
The head of the JSW recalled that coking coal was again included in the list of strategic raw materials for the EU.
“A big problem for us is the desire to maximize the production of metallurgical coal. We want to achieve this goal within the next decade. We will mainly produce metallurgical coal and coke, which cannot be replaced in steel production, ”said Barbara Piontek.
Last year, coking coal accounted for about 77 percent of JSW's total coal production. “Power-generating coal is a by-product of our activity, and its share in the total production volume will decrease,” the President assured.
“For many years, there was a shortage of metallurgical coal on the EU market, which was satisfied mainly by imports. EU steel mills use 37 million tonnes of coke per year, which requires 53 million tonnes of coking coal. EU's own production is only 17 million tons, including 11.6 million tons comes from Poland, ”explained Piontek. She stressed that the market situation gives JSW a good and long-term perspective for stable operation.
