Türkçimento rings alarm over coal price rise due to Ukraine war

Coal prices in Turkey have seen a more than 50 per cent hike in the past week due to the Russian invasion into Ukraine, according to Volkan Bozay, chair of Turkey’s cement association, Türkçimento. He warned that the domestic cement industry faced an “imminent crisis”.

“Cement companies imported 5Mt of coal last year and Russia was the main supplier. Each US$10 increase in coal prices pushes the cost for cement production up by around US$1.50,” he said, adding that in the past week, the rise in coal prices amounted to more than US$100.

Unless alternative fuels were made available, the depleting coal inventories of the sector would lead to the halting of cement production activity, he said.