Geostat reports, that coal mining is 90% down in Georgia in 2019. As of the report, Georgia mined a total of 15.3 thousand t coal in 2019, while the volume of mined coal made up 137.9 thousand t in 2018.
Coal production decline in 2019 is related to the capacity decrease of Saknakhshiri.
According to Saknakhshiri, the company mined 115 thousand t coal in 2018, while in 2017 – 225 thousand t. However, the company had a loss of 21 million GEL in 2018, while 16.4 million GEL – in 2017.
As of Geostat’s report, the main consumer of mined coal in Georgia was the local industry. Even today, the private sector consumes a significant amount of coal, its main customers are metallurgical and cement companies.
According to Geostat, in 2019 the country imported 238 thousand tons of bituminous coal, 100% of which was absorbed by the industrial sector. In addition, 144.9 thousand tons of “industrial coke furnaces" were imported to Georgia last year, the main part of which was consumed by the metallurgical sector.
