By John Irish
DUBAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - SUEK, Russia's largest coal producer, will 'reschedule' its investment plans and review its costs as falling coal demand begins to bite on its operations, a company executive said on Monday.
SUEK, or Siberian Coal and Energy Co, said it would have to reprioritise projects as the energy sector in general faced 'challenges' amid lower consumption.
'We are going to reschedule our investment plans,' Anna Belova, vice chief executive, stratagy and corporate development told Reuters on the sidelines of a Russian investment conference in Dubai. 'It is stupid just to keep living in a world that is changing without any adjustments.'
Belova did not identify specific projects but said SUEK was looking at its infrastructure projects in particular, adding the firm would focus on higher efficiency for existing schemes.
'We are very intensively (looking at) the investment grade in projects and reprioritising them,' she said.
SUEK raised coal output by 2.5 percent in the first half of 2008 and increased sales both in Russia and abroad on the back of bigger demand from power producers.
Belova said exports would feel the pinch of the global economic downturn as demand for all energy projects fell away.
The company, which is planning an initial public offering next year, said coal production rose to 43.2 million tonnes in the first half of 2008 while exports rose five percent to 13.3 million tonnes. It included shipments to Great Britain, South Korea, Japan, Poland and Germany.
SUEK produces a third of Russian coal and is responsible for a fifth of the country's exports.
Belova said the company had no plans to cut jobs yet, but was reviewing ways to reduce administrative costs.
'Cutting jobs will depend, but not currently,' she said. 'It is a normal challenge for any company, but we will cut administrative costs.'
(Reporting by John Irish; editing by James Jukwey)
((john.irish@thomsonreuters.com and dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com;+971 4 366 4243; Reuters Messaging: john.irish.reuters.com@reuters.net)
Keywords: SUEK COAL/INVESTMENT
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
DUBAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - SUEK, Russia's largest coal producer, will 'reschedule' its investment plans and review its costs as falling coal demand begins to bite on its operations, a company executive said on Monday.
SUEK, or Siberian Coal and Energy Co, said it would have to reprioritise projects as the energy sector in general faced 'challenges' amid lower consumption.
'We are going to reschedule our investment plans,' Anna Belova, vice chief executive, stratagy and corporate development told Reuters on the sidelines of a Russian investment conference in Dubai. 'It is stupid just to keep living in a world that is changing without any adjustments.'
Belova did not identify specific projects but said SUEK was looking at its infrastructure projects in particular, adding the firm would focus on higher efficiency for existing schemes.
'We are very intensively (looking at) the investment grade in projects and reprioritising them,' she said.
SUEK raised coal output by 2.5 percent in the first half of 2008 and increased sales both in Russia and abroad on the back of bigger demand from power producers.
Belova said exports would feel the pinch of the global economic downturn as demand for all energy projects fell away.
The company, which is planning an initial public offering next year, said coal production rose to 43.2 million tonnes in the first half of 2008 while exports rose five percent to 13.3 million tonnes. It included shipments to Great Britain, South Korea, Japan, Poland and Germany.
SUEK produces a third of Russian coal and is responsible for a fifth of the country's exports.
Belova said the company had no plans to cut jobs yet, but was reviewing ways to reduce administrative costs.
'Cutting jobs will depend, but not currently,' she said. 'It is a normal challenge for any company, but we will cut administrative costs.'
(Reporting by John Irish; editing by James Jukwey)
((john.irish@thomsonreuters.com and dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com;+971 4 366 4243; Reuters Messaging: john.irish.reuters.com@reuters.net)
Keywords: SUEK COAL/INVESTMENT
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.