New York-listed Mechel said in its nine-month results released yesterday, that it had turned its focus to steam coal with an output rise of 11% since the comparable period in 2004.

“The negative trends we witnessed in major mining markets in the second quarter continued to affect our nine-month production. The slowdown in the coking coal market, caused by a decrease in production by a number of Russian steel companies, prompted our shift to increasing steam coal production,” Mechel chief Vladimir Iorich said.

Iorich said a slight improvement in market conditions during the third quarter enabled the company to restore production to planned levels.

For the nine months to September Mechel reported 17.6% increased revenues to $US2.91 billion and net income of $US314.72 million.

Coal output for the nine months rose 2% over 2004 to 11.6Mt, coking coal output dropped by 5% to 6.4Mt and steam coal was 5.2Mt.

“Our overall profitability remains our focus, and we are confident that we will continue to see the positive impact of our ongoing modernisation and efficiency-improvement programs in the coming year,” Iorich said.

“We will also strive to increase our export of coal, thus increasing third-party sales of mining products, and at diversifying our product portfolio towards value-added products in the steel segment.”