Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you very cordially to the earnings conference of the JSW Group. At the beginning, I would like to introduce the current composition of the Management Board of JSW. My name is Stanislav Plusek. And on the 9th July of this year, the Supervisory Board seconded me or delegated me to be the temporary CEO of JSW.
And at the same time, they've entrusted me with being the vice president responsible for technical and organizational matters. And so on the 27th August, my term will come to an end, this term of secondment. I would like to inform you that on the 30th July of this year, the Supervisory Board appointed 3 new management board members. 2 of them are present at today's conference. On my left is Mr.
Robert Ostrovsky, who's the Vice President responsible for Economic Affairs. On my right side is Mr. Sebastian Bartos, who is the Vice President responsible for sales. Next to Mr. Bartos is Mr.
Artur Vojtkov, who is the Vice President responsible for Labor and social policy. And the surprise report entrusted him on the 30th July with being the Vice President responsible for development. The 3rd newly appointed management board member of JSW is Mr. Edvard Posjorcon. He's going to be responsible for operational matters and technical matters.
And he'll begin his service on the 1st September of this year. I'd like to remind you that on the 5th August of this year, the Supervisory Board announced a search procedure for the CEO. And on the 27th August, interviews will be held with the candidates to take up this position. So ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to go on to reporting the results that the group generated in H1 of this year. If we look at production, so co production, co production and corridor works, So I'll give the general figures.
And later, under the second item, when we present the operating results of the company, I'll provide you some additional details. In the 1st 6 months of the year, our coal production was 6.84 3, 000, 000 tonnes. Our coke production was 1, 843, 000 tonnes. If we look at corridor works, we have tonnelled some 41, 698, 000 running meters. In the 1st 6 months of this year, our total coal sales were 7, 597 1, 000, 000 tonnes, and this is an increase over the corresponding period of the previous year by 20.8%.
If we look at our sales revenue in the first half of the year, it was DKK4.177 billion. And this is an increase of some 22% versus the same period corresponding period of last year. So if you look at the average price of met coal and coke, we had a decline of 14.5%. So the average price over that 6 month period was DKK 416.86 per tonne. If we look at coke, we saw the price moving up.
It's up by 21.7 percent and the price per tonne of Coke was 1, 009 watts and 77 gross. So the Company's EBITA during the 1st 6 months of the year was 339, 400, 000 Swats. And so in comparison with last year, we may have had a negative figure of 86, 400, 000. This is the 6 month period of last year. This is the comparable period.
If we look at the 1st 6 months of the year, So we have a loss of €330, 500, 000 as opposed to €937, 800, 000 in the last 6 months of last year. So I'll now go on to a presentation of the operating results of JSW. So if we look at our coal production, I mentioned that in the 1st 6 months, we had 6 point 8, 000, 000 tonnes. So compared to the 1st 6 months of last year, this is an increase of 2.6%. If we look at the production mix, so roughly 1 point 3, 000, 000 tonnes is steam coal and 5, 500, 000 tonnes was met coal.
If we look at the corridor works in turn as we compare corridor works done in the previous year. So we can start actually looking at Q2, 1 versus Q1. We do have a decline in terms of quarter works done. It's down 9.2% in Q2 over Q1. But if we compare this 1st 6 months of this year to the 1st 6 months of last year, we do see an increase of tunneling corridor works.
So it's up some 19.3%. So now I can go on to the mining cash cost. So the mining cash cost, if we compare Q2 to Q1, we've seen that the binding cash cost has edged up. So if we look at the 6 months of this year, the 1st 6 months of this year to the 1st 6 months of last year, we can say that the mining cash cost and unit mining cash cost has hedged up by 3.6%. So it went from to 425.99s watts in the 1st 6 months last year to 441.37s watts in the 1st 6 months of this year.
So ladies and gentlemen, if we look at the inventory of coal produced by GSW as of June 30, 2021, it was 2.7 tonnes. So actually, sorry, on the 30th June 2020, it was 2, 172, 000 tonnes and now it's 1 point 413, 000 tonnes. So we've reduced the inventory by some 730, 000 tonnes. So if you look down into production of coke in the 1st 6 months of this year, we've produced 1, 843, 000 tonnes of coke, and this is an increase of 18.6% versus the corresponding period of the previous year. So ladies and gentlemen, our coke plants are working at full capacity.
So we've utilized our capitalization ratio is 100%. So last year, our production utilization capacity was 85.4%. That was the utilization factor in the 1st 6 months of last year. If we look at cash conversion cost, we have seen an increase. If we compare Q1 and Q2, So this was an increase.
If we look at the 6 month period, so I can remind you that last year in the 1st 6 months, it was BRL287, 000, 000 and now it's BRL302 1, 000, 000 almost BRL303 1, 000, 000 that's the total cost, cash conversion cost. But we have the unit cash conversion cost that's come down. If we look at the 6 months of this year to the 1st 6 months of last year, it's were down by some 11.1% from CHF 184.97 to the current cash conversion cost unit cost of CHF 164.37. So ladies and gentlemen, the inventory of coke produced by the JSW Group as of 30 June 2020, we had almost 350, 000 tonnes right now. Well, on the 30th June of the current year.
So it's around 100 and 46, 000 tonnes. So we've produced the inventory of coke by roughly 200, 000 tonnes. So ladies and gentlemen, I would thank you for your attention for this point in the presentation. Now we'd like to go on to a discussion of the market trends. And I'd like to ask Sebastian Bartos to go ahead and say a few words about market trends and market environment.
So ladies and gentlemen, before we go through the numbers that we've got displayed on the stage on the page, I'd like to say a few words about the market landscape, where the company was last year, in the first half of last year, in particular, as well as across the overall year of 2020 and how that compares to what we see this year. As we will remember, last year, 2020, was a very challenging year for JSW. We had a this was a COVID year, not only in the commodities industry, but also our industry was particularly affected by all those restrictions. This led to a situation in which many contracts were reduced by our off takers. And so we had limitations of production of coal and coke in our plants.
So many customers, steel customers had to take even more radical steps. So also, the competition. So the coking segment, they undertook even more radical efforts. Even though it was a very difficult year, we managed to navigate that a little bit differently. 1, as a group, we didn't stop production.
And even though we didn't have the ability to sell all of the tonnes, we continued to produce in our mines. And even though there were some difficulties with employees' absenteeism, we continued to do production in the coking segment compared to the competition. We didn't stop any of the coking batteries. That means we maintained the ability to fulfill contracts in that difficult period. And right now, those contracts are generating profits for us in the first half of the year.
And these outcomes are visible in our results. So the economy and the commodities industry have been emerging from the crisis and actually more quickly than some market participants had anticipated. As JSW, we would like to utilize this period, take advantage to the fullest extent possible, Just like we were able to put things together in the more difficult period of last year, even though we had some trials and tribulations in sales, We didn't the coal was utilized in our own coking plans. And we had last night's coke that was sold to overseas markets, to the vibrant markets, and we were able to survive that period. If we look at the current situation in our ratios, especially in this first half of the year.
We have a classic cycle in the steel industry. So we have steel, coke, and then coking coal. This is basically a chain of events that have certain consequences and repercussions right now at the market. In steel products. Well, there's a hunger for steel products.
So all of the steel mills were trying to reduce their inventories. That's a balance sheet line item that was a burden to them in that difficult COVID year. So the needs for these products is the need is big. There's a lot of demand. And so you can see here with the production of steel that we have an increase of steel production, 14.4% to more than 1, 000, 000, 000 tonnes across the world.
And so that's more than 1, 000, 000, 000 tonnes of steel produced across the world. And this has had an impact on the steel prices. I'd like to mention 1 other thing about the European market, because it's the natural market for JSW. So we have a bigger increase. It's up by more than 18%, where Europe produced some 70, almost 8, 000, 000 tonnes of steel.
1 of the things important despite that growth, this is a level that's lower than what we saw prior to COVID. This was 7% below from what we saw in 2019. So we believe that in Europe, there are still some reserves to tap into. This has meant this is the 1st driver in the Commodities Industry that's important. We've seen steel prices moving up quite strongly.
So it's up by 118% in terms of the Automobile Industry Products, so coils. And then we also have the long products that have experienced growth. And so this is the construction industry and things of that nature. And so the development on this market means that there are certain consequences. And this has led to a situation in which we could benefit from this by raising our prices in the coking segment.
As you look at the coking coal prices, they've grown by some 52% for Coke on the European markets and by almost 54% on the Chinese market. So the situation is a little bit different. If we look at coking coal prices or met coke met coal prices. So a couple of words of commentary. In the normal classic value chain, coking coal should reflect these values.
But in the last 2 quarters or 3 quarters, we can see there's 1 event that's had a major impact. These are geopolitical decisions where JSW and European players don't have an impact on that. These are restrictions that have been placed on imports from Australia into China. And this has led to lower market prices on the international markets. So this is something that started last year, at the end of last year.
It's been underway for about half a year. This is not a natural event, nor is it supported by the normal laws of economics. And that's something that can't continue to be in place for a long time. So if you look at June, this is where we can see that Australian coal prices have moved up very strongly at the end of June. And this is something that's continuing.
But in the first half of this year, as a Group, we were not able to benefit from those prices because that's the latter half of June when those prices were bumped up. So you can see that the spot prices for Coca Cola, it's a 3% difference. And SemiSoft is up some 41%. And this is driven primarily by those events that I just referred to. So if we look at the prices of JSW Products in relation to market prices, As has been the case in previous results presentations, we're looking at 2 systems that are in place in JSW And they're based on benchmark prices.
So we have the TSI Premium. So this is the price from the preceding quarter. Then we have the Nippon Steel method, and that's the current quarter minus 1 month. And so if you look at Q1 and Q2 of this year, we can see a symbolic growth from $109 to $112 per tonne for met coal. This is linked to what I mentioned.
So it wasn't until the latter half of June that we saw substantial growth in coal prices, which will be utilized in subsequent periods. But you can see how those 2 different systems are operating. So if we look at the preceding quarter, we had roughly 81% of that value. But under the Nippon still having that type of contractual setup, we were able to achieve some 96%. So we were able to fully utilize that market that was in place in the latter half of the quarter.
So if you look at coke prices, they have a totally different situation for the Coke market. And so the growth that we're showing you is so it's $235 from the Q1, and we have $307 in Q2. And if we track that against international ratios, well, the absolute figures present here, this is for blast furnace coke. And we're showing you, total coke, where we have small fractions. And this is an aggregate price for our coke that comes from all of our coking plants in the Group.
But what I'd like to note here is the trend that has appeared between the Q1 and the second quarter is much more dynamic as compared to the various publications showing what's happening with prices. And so in our group, we had much bigger price increases than what the international market saw in these published prices. If we look at steam coal prices, the situation is different. You're very well aware of how those prices work. So we have steam coal prices to the commercial power sector.
And these are annual prices that were agreed in November December of last year. And all of the indices that we see now have a very limited impact on the agreed upon price, because the price we have is an annual price. And so what's happening now will impact next year's prices. So if we go on to call sales to external customers and internal customers, I'd like to show you 1 thing that's in line with the JSW's policy. If we compare Q1 and Q2 of this year, we have a decline of 1.5%.
This is a small decline, so we can say that the volumes are quite stable. But my, I'd like to draw your attention to the differences between steam and coking coal. We're selling much more coking coal, and we saw a decline in the sales of steam coal. And this is the direction that our Group is moving in. We want to maximize the share of coking coal because it's higher value and that's what we want to sell to our customers.
We have a similar situation. If we look at the first half of this year or of last year against this year, so we have an increase of nearly 23%. So this is the rebound after a difficult COVID year. And you can see the same proportion. So we are selling much more coking coal to our customers.
And so we have a smaller increase in the steam coal. So if you look at our internal customers, these are our integrated coking plans within the Group. So if we look at the differences between Q1 and Q2, we can see that it's down by 1%. So basically, this is stable or basically flat in terms of the coal we deliver to our own cooking plants. But if we look at H1 versus this year compared to last year, the increase is nearly 17%.
And this is a matter of the rebound after the challenging COVID year. So if we come back to the revenue, to external clients, If we look at the difference between Q1 and Q2, we have an increase of 2.4%. The growth in average prices So $109 to $112 We haven't onboarded the price increase from the latter half of June. That's why the uptake is or the increases uptake is only 2.4%. But if we look at the differences between the first halves of this year and last year, the upswing is 6%.
So as we continue, if we look at the sales of Coke to external clients, the volume that we've sold in Q1 and Q2, we have it's down by almost 14%. I'd give you a comment about that volume. Generally speaking, our coking segment, and this is what Mr. Prusek said, we're utilizing 100% of our production capacity. So we don't have any inventory.
The inventory that we have 146, 000, this is an operational inventory level, which is needed to maintain our overseas delivery supplies. So we don't really have any excess inventory. So this is a matter of the distinct nature of overseas supplies. Some of the cargo was in Bront. And so some of the invoicing was done in July for deliveries made in June.
So that's why we have a decline of almost 14%. So our inventory is not growing. Everything has been sold. And if we compare H1 H1 of 2020 with H1 2021, we have an increase of 11%. So this is information for you that the Coke segment in the difficult COVID year didn't see a major decline in production.
So we didn't stop any of the coking batteries. We found alternative markets for our production. And so we're now tapping into 100 percent of our production capacity. And that's why we've been able to achieve an 11% uptick here. If we come back to the utilization of capacity, production capacity and the difficult last year, all of the decisions that were made warrants as drastic as the decisions made by our competition, they have another aspect.
We've shown all of our customers that our group in a difficult COVID period was capable of discharging its all of its contracts. And JSW showed itself to be a very stable and reliable supplier. And this is profiting us now. And this is something that I hope will continue to be the case in future periods because we have long term strategic contracts. We're not a spot supplier to our customers.
So coming back to the average Coke sales price and the revenue on that, the Q1 versus Q2 of this year, we have an increase of 30% in the average Coke sales price. If we compare the first half of this year to the first half of last year, the increase in the price is some 21.7%. So we can say we have a blended result of volume increases and price increases. So if we look at revenues on sales of Coke and Hydrocarbons to external clients, we can see an increase between Q1 and Q2 of 15%. And then if we compare each 1 of the 2 years, we have an increase of more than 41%.
So that's it from my side, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Now I'd like to ask Mr. Robert Ostrovsky to say a few words about the investments in the JSW Group and to present information concerning select or the financial highlights of the JSW Group.
So I'll give you the floor now. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much, Mr. President. So it's my pleasure today to discuss with you and present information about our investments in JSW, the Company and the Group.
This is not something that's allocated to the Financial Division, but I'll discharge this duty today. So if I look at the corresponding periods that we have in our presentation, so we have H1 of this year versus last year. So we have a decline on an accrual basis of CapEx. So we have an accrual basis and a cash basis. This is the presentation methodology that we've utilized in the past.
And so we can say that we had CapEx of NKK 760, 000, 000. And so almost NPL634 million was spent on the coal segment. And so last year, we spent more PLN 875 million, PLN 875 million, of which PLN740, 000, 000 was for the coal segment. If we look at Q2 and Q1 of this year, we had CapEx that was higher by 9.5% in Q2 over Q1 of this year. And so we had almost $324, 000, 000 spent in the Coke segment in Q2.
And then we had DKK 310, 000, 000 in the Q1 on the coal segment. So we have some shifts in the cash basis, usually Q4 and every period reporting period has a higher accrual basis cost, whereas on a cash basis, this is something that takes place a little bit later. And this is something that's happened in the most recent period. And that's why the CapEx we see here on a cash basis reflect that effect. So we spent on a cash basis, dollars 931, 000, 000 some more than on an accrual basis.
And so the coal segment received $802, 000, 000 Last year, in the first half of the year, we spent $1, 335, 000, 000 and that's some 30% more than we saw in the previous year. And so if we compare Q2 to Q1 on a cash basis, we had in Q1, dollars 487 million and $422, 000, 000 on the coal segment compared to $444, 000, 000 in total in Q2 and $380, 000, 000 for the coal segment in JSW itself. So I can tell you a little bit about the split of these expenditures on an accrual basis. So if you look at the 2 6 month periods, we have a decline of 14% on a comparable basis. And so we're down to PLN634 million and we have a difference between the 2 quarters, Q2 and Q1 of this year.
It's up by 4.4 percent. So it's almost €124, 000, 000 that we spent in Q2. We also show you the 2nd most important segment in the group, which is the Coke segment, such as SW Coke. And on a accrual basis in the first half of the year, we had NPL 63, 000, 000. So we have an increase of some 50 odd percent between the 2 half years.
In the Q2 of this year, it was PEN40 1, 000, 000 and that's 73% more compared to the Q1. So JSW Cooks has signed a contract to modernize battery number 4 in Srihausen coking plant and it's continuing an investment in Radnor. And that's why we have this progress in the various periods. I think it's worthwhile to make a comment that the pandemic and the financial position in the first half of this year, 20 21, have not affected the directions of investments where we're trying to make gain access to new layers in the seams of coal. So I think it's worth to mention that we continue to invest in recovering methane and the financial position hasn't affected the schedule of these investments.
Basically, we want to maintain the business continuity of production in the various periods. And this is what Mr. Prusek said at the beginning that we have the preparatory works that we do. We're doing that using our own in house resources. And so we've seen progress over the various periods.
So all of these efforts are being taken to ensure that we have a stable run rate in the company. So on average, if we look at the CapEx in the various periods, we can say that the coal segment accounts for roughly 80%, 85% of the CapEx in the Group. Let me go on and provide some information about our financial highlights for the JSW Group. In the first half of this year, we had sales revenue of Zp4.177 billion and this is up 22% over the corresponding period of last year. We also see progress in Q2 over Q1.
We had DKK2.178 billion, which is more than what we had in Q1 of this year. And this has an impact on the financial results. So the EBITDA was positive in this first half of the year. And so it was 340, 000, 000 Swats without non recurring. And then we had some non recurring events, which had an impact.
I'll talk about them in a moment. And so that was a difference of DKK 255 1, 000, 000. So we had negative figures last half year. And so we had a negative result of BRL86 1, 000, 000 EBITDA. And after the nonrecurring events were incorporated, we had a result of BRL595 1, 000, 000 in the minus.
So in Q2, we had $227, 000, 000 as opposed to CAD113 1, 000, 000 in Q1 before incorporating nonrecurring events. So we had a net result of a little over CAD330 1, 000, 000 in the negative. So it's 3 times smaller than what we saw in the first half of last year. So the various quarters of this year, we see a net loss of CAD151 1, 000, 000 in Q2 and $180, 000, 000 almost in Q1. Maybe a few words about our working capital.
So we have a negative figure of R712 1, 000, 000. And so some of so current liabilities are financing a portion of our current assets. And this is a result of a decline in current assets by some CHF450 1, 000, 000. And at the same time, we have higher current liabilities, which sets up by BRL356 1, 000, 000. And so we have an increase in the loan by $68, 000, 000 And we have trade payables up.
And we have employment liabilities, which are up by some SEK 55, 000, 000 in the balance sheet of the group. On current assets, we have less cash by swedys. And so the inventory has fallen by swedys, But we're up on current receivables by 7, 000, 000 296, 000, 000 So now I'd like to discuss the factors that have the drivers of EBITDA as we compare Teva EBITDA in Q2 versus Q1. So it's €104, 000, 000 in Q1. And so if you look at the coal segments, so volume and prices, so this was an increase of some $22, 000, 000 So it's not very material, but I think it's worthwhile to mention that we have more coking coal volume of some 5% and were down in terms of the steam coal sales by some 16%.
We also see that the average met coal price is up by 1.8 percent, while the average steam coal price has edged downwards by 0.6%. To a bigger extent, we saw the coke segment exerting an impact. So we have a decrease in the volume by almost 14%. And that means that the EBITDA is negative at $143, 000, 000 is what it's almost. But the average coke sales price is up by some 30%.
So that's improved this segment's EBITDA of almost BRL253 million. So what is in that means that the impact of the Coke segment is €85, 000, 000 plus. And so we have other we have the impact of other operating income and expenses. What we should recognize here, so we have other operating events. So it's it's SEK 37, 000, 000 for the sales of other revenues.
We had lower revenue on payments and indemnities. We had a big adjustment because of the reversal on the impairment loss for so a difference of SEK 108, 000, 000. And so then the other figures were just a few million. So this gives you a total impact of CHF 84, 700, 000 with the negative. And so then we have the nonrecurring events.
There are 3 important nonrecurring events. First is we have a higher impairment for the property, plant and equipment in Yextrem Biafzent. So it's €73, 000, 000 Then we have the costs that linked to the SARS CoV-two pandemic. So this is almost CHF 11, 000, 000, 000, so what is not less. And then we have a negative figure of releasing provisions for the Farmor litigation.
So the total impact improves our EBITDA by SEK 75, 000, 000. And that's why the EBITDA in Q2, if we take into consideration all these factors, is a little bit under 227, 000, 000 watts. So now I'd like to recap and talk about the operating segment's impact on EBITDA in Q2 versus Q1. As I said, the coal segment had a negative impact of €185, 000, 000 almost. And this is for the reasons that I mentioned.
The Coke segment has a positive impact of almost BRL 278 1, 000, 000. Then we have some consolidation eliminations. There are 2 major buy items. Impact is BRL46 1, 000, 000 negative that we have, profits not achieved on inventories for contracts within the group for coal and segment and coke. So that's when we sell coal to JSWCokes.
And if that coal isn't converted into coke, then we have an impact. And then we have cases where JSW buys coke back from the coke company and then it's sold to external customers. And here we have adjustments to contracts for coke. And so the impact is PLN21 million. And the second important line item is unrealized, so dividends were excluded.
Dividends paid within the group. And so the difference is PLN 25, 000, 000 and so had an impact on that consolidation elimination. Then we have the non recurring events that I discussed with you previously. So if we could go on to the next slide. I want to discuss at the end information about our costs by nature.
In the first half of 20 21. So our costs by nature were 4, 700, 000, 000 swaths and that's more by 280, 000, 000 over the same period of last year. So out of tradition, the split is quite similar. So the employment costs represent the biggest bulk and there's an increase here. But we had the pandemic restrictions in 2020.
And then we had some increase in the average headcount in PBES. And that's because of the number of contracts in that company. We also have the impact of paying out bonuses to employees because of the celebratory days in JSW and COGS. And then we also had higher costs because of higher headcount in the JZR Company. We have higher consumption of energy and this is similar across the periods, but we have to have in mind that there is a visible increase in CO2 prices In terms of the energy that's purchased as of 1 January 2021, we have the capacity fee for electricity drawn from the external grid.
So between the quarters, the differences aren't very big. It's 21, 000, 000 Swats. It's bigger in the Q2 of the year. And so the split is quite similar across periods. And so the differences are just a few 1, 000, 000 watts, at most 10, 000, 000 watts.
So we have external services. We have depreciation and amortization, which is a non cash expense. And then we have the consumption of materials to do our production. That's about it in terms of the financial and economic information from my side. So thank you for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. So ladies and gentlemen, I'd now like to go on to the Q and A session. So we have questions that have been posed by shareholders and analysts. So, ladies and gentlemen, I'll read the first question.
What is the reason for the growth of CapEx in 2021 from $2, 000, 000, 000 at the beginning of the year to $2, 600, 000, 000 which was discussed at the most recent conference. What are the plans today and what possible changes could take place to have your early look to CapEx about in 2022? So I'd like to ask Roberto Ostrovsky to respond to that question. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. At the most recent conference, we talked about CapEx plans for the overall group.
And that was the 2, 600, 000, 000 swaths. There was also a discussion of capex for JSW is 2, 000, 000, 000 swaths. So there's no correction here, no adjustment, no change. The plan for 2021 in terms of investments for the Group and for JSW itself are the same. The next question, in July, you raised your salaries by 3.8 percent despite the trade union's protest, you wanted more.
What your talks look like with the and this applied to employees only in JSW? What about the other company's employees? I'll ask Artur Vojtkov to respond to that question. So ladies and gentlemen, it's true that as of 1 July, the company raised salaries by 3 point 4% on the basis of a unilateral decision made by the Management Board on the 7th June. The trade unions asked the Management Board or made a demand to have a higher increase salary increase.
And that was 6% is what they asked for in terms of the base salary increase and to pay a single compensation because of the COVID. And they wanted 5, 000 swaths for underground employees and 3, 500 for other employees in the surface. So the negotiations were begun to discuss those proposals. And in the middle of June, there was a meeting and the trade union upheld its expectations of having a higher salary increase, but the management was to prepare for the next meeting and present its position on possible growth. That meeting didn't take place.
There was a break in the negotiations. This break continues because of perturbations with the management board composition as the full management team is being put together. And so once the full management team is in place, then the meeting will be held and prepared the position of the management board and we'll present that position to the trade unions. If we look at the daughter companies, we've received signals that there are no such expectations in the daughter companies with the exception of the training company. And the trade unions have asked for an increase in the salaries of 3.4%.
So thank you very much. Then we have the next question. What's the stage and what's the process of delivering social protections to 1, 800 employees who have said they want to participate in this program? What, as they leave, what will the reductions mean? Will this lead to problems in production?
And will this attrition take place over time or at 1 single point in time? And so can the figures be substantially lower after verification? Once again, I'd like to ask Mr. Voigtkov to respond to this question. So ladies and gentlemen, it's true that to transfer employees to the SRK restructuring company, then the law on the functioning of mining sector has to change.
That law is currently being discussed in the parliament. And once it's amended on the basis of the amended law, we're going to be able to put this JMPA 3. We're going to be able to transfer it to this SRK restructuring company. So 1800 people asked for or applied for these mining vacations and asked for 1 time payments, the interest is quite strong. But the previous management team, in response to the proposals of the directors, had decided what the number of people would be.
And the number of defined then was 550 persons, but 550 people. These are single payments as well as mining vacations. And so those applications have been checked. And basically, the management of the various mines are agreeing to that. Whether the new management team will allow for more miners to leave the company.
We see 550 is the number. And so the difference between 180550 is quite substantial. So having 1800 employees leave the company would be a problem for the company in terms of doing all of its work, especially if we think about the underground employees. So we have to be seditious and wise in terms of making our decisions. When do we plan to transfer Yashgen Bia3 Mining Area to SRK Construction Company assuming that the law is completed.
We believe that on the 31st October, we could transfer. And that means we would no longer bear the cost of those employees as of the 1st November in those mines once they're transferred to the SRK Restructuring Company. Thank you very much. Then we have the next question. Can we anticipate more higher production in the latter half of 20 21?
Or was the production output in the first half this year, was it up to date? Is it in line with the plan? Were there any geological problems? And as a result of higher production of energy, Can we anticipate that we're going to have higher production of steam coal in subsequent quarters? I'll try to respond to these questions.
Well, in response to the first question, yes, we can anticipate that in the second half of this year, we'll have higher production output compared to the first half of the year. So in the 1st 6 months of this year, this was in line with the technical and economic plan of the company. If I remember well, the third part of the question was to verify the updates. Well, we haven't verified our technical and economic plan. I think you mentioned some of the market factors and the geological factors.
So this update was not made. And if I remember correctly, the 4th question was about our output, production output. We don't anticipate the production mix changing. And so JSW is following the plan of gradually increasing the percentage of coking coal in the production volume production mix. Thank you very much.
And the next question, what's the estimated split of inventory between steam coal and coking coal? If I remember well, the estimated split of inventories, More than 800, 000 tons of steam coal and more than 500, 000 tons of coking coal. Thank you. Then we have the next question. How do you see the current demand for coke and coking coal?
So I'd like to ask Sebastian Bartos to respond to that question. So ladies and gentlemen, as I respond to that question, I think we can say that we see it positively. And that's something that we've emphasized in our presentation In terms of hydrocarbons, we have long term contracts and this covers 100% of our production. If we look at coking coal and steam coal, our sales opportunities are higher than our current production. And that means that our inventories are gradually falling.
Thank you very much. The next question, what's the current state of discussion about having methane under the ETS system? Do you anticipate a shift to a dynamic market environment? What sort of efforts are being taken to be able to capture more methane? And what's the maximum level of methane capture?
So I'll try to respond to these questions about methane, in fact. So what's the status of our talks? Well, work is underway at the European Commission. And so in terms of adding methane to the European trading system for allowances. And so JSW is tracking to work.
So we want to utilize methane for economic purposes. And so we're constantly trying to ramp up our utilization of methane for commercial purposes. So we're producing electricity from our own sources. In the first 6 half months of this year, we've been able to generate roughly 75, 000 Megawatt hours of electricity. The plan is to generate from methane in our own sources around 150, 000 Megawatt hours.
And if we're successful, this would be an increase of some 50% compared to electricity generation in last year. If we think about the projects and our efforts to capture methane, right now, we're doing work to augment the methane drainage and the rock mass in our mines. Right now, we're able to capture roughly 40%. We'd like to augment that methane drainage to 50%. Other work we're doing, we're doing meticulous analysis on the ability to apply technology to utilize the methane in ventilation air.
This is a major challenge. This is caused by the low concentration of methane in ventilation air. So in our mines and our ventilation shafts, it usually doesn't exceed 0.5%. So I'd also interest you in our activities in methane. So our employees have created a website.
I hope I won't be wrong with the address of the site. It's emmenergy. Eu. And there's a lot of information about that subject. So people are interested, I would send you to that site.
And the next question, As a result of moving the SG and A section to SRP, what will be the savings for the employee benefits? Sir, I would ask Mr. Wojtkov to respond to that question. So ladies and gentlemen, if on the 31st October, the transfer is made, This is not something that's happening over a longer or shorter period of time from day to day. So on the 1st November, these employees would no longer be our employees.
The savings for our 5.50 persons who would be utilizing, these protections. This would be roughly 14, 000, 000 Swat is. So the savings on an annual basis would be in excess of 90, 000, 000 Swadis. So the increase in the number of employees who are utilizing employees' safety guards, Well, basically, if that number of employees is higher, then those numbers would grow. Thank you very much.
What's the production of coal in these assets? What's sort of what's their production of coking coal and steamed coal? What's the split? If I understand this question, I'll try to respond to this question quite briefly. So the in the Ostchembia section, we're not actually doing any mining operations.
So the next question, what's the current schedule for starting mining operations in the Bze mine? And will the first production appear at the end of 2021? I can say yes briefly. Those are our plans. So the first tonne of mined coal will come from the Asthembeje mine by the end of this year.
Thank you very much. And then the next question, what are the expectations of the management team in terms of coal production in the medium and long term? Can we anticipate that the run rate would stay at 15, 000, 000 tonnes? Does the current management team plan to ramp this up to 17, 000, 000 tonnes? Or would the problems that you're encountering reduce the taper off these figures?
So I'll try to respond to these several questions. I can say that the current management team is doing work and it's utmost to achieve the run rate this year, as in the technical and economic plan, I'm convinced that in the medium and long term, the new management team fully brought together will make the decision. And the question is about the mining conditions and their impact on production over a longer period of time. But ladies and gentlemen, the conditions and the problems, mining problems. And I'd like to add to the geological conditions are always a challenge for us.
And so it's certainly the case if we if these problems appear well, they can exert an impact on the run rate on the production volumes. And so the company is doing its utmost, and I'm convinced it will continue to do its utmost to ensure that the negative impact either posed by mining problems or geological problems, but it will do its best to mitigate those problems in terms of the impact on the run rate. Ladies and gentlemen, does the company consider a change in the benchmark from Australia to the U. S. With the customers of JSW, Would they be willing to have a switch in the contractual base because of the high prices for steel and coking coal?
So I'd like to ask Mr. Bartos to respond to that question. Ladies and gentlemen, we as JBSW analyze all ratios and not only in the short term, but also over many, many years. And so as I respond to this question, I can say the following: Today, we don't intend to make that decision. And there's several facts and aspects for why we're not going to do that.
JSW sells coal on the basis of long term contracts. These are stable contracts, which have specific price mechanisms, price setting mechanisms. And we've done an analysis for the last 10 years looking at Australian and U. S. Coal.
Australian coal has always been priced higher because of higher quality. And that's something that's been beneficial to JSW. The distortions we've seen in the last 2 quarters or the last few months are caused by an event of a geopolitical nature, which is not natural. So the ban on imports from Australia into China. And so the situation after several months is now normalizing.
There is a figure, the difference of $40 between US coal and Austrian coal. That difference is no longer current. Over the last 5 to 6 months, the differences were even as high as $100 We, as JSW, many market participants discussed that subject matter. This is not a natural price difference, and it's not something that can persist for a long period of time. So if you look at the current coal prices from Australian mines and US mines, the difference is $25 And so normalization is something that's continuing here.
Please have in mind the following fact, the increase that transpired for Australian coal since the latter half of June and something that that upswing in Australian coal prices is continuing. And this is because of restrictions and the ban on imports from Australia into China. And so as a result, we today are not considering that decision. The priority and the philosophy of JSW is to continue cultivating our long term relations with our customers. We have contracts and we intend to live up to those contracts.
Thank you very much. And we're now observing strong growth in steel price and external prices are also growing. And JSW needs quite a bit of steel and external services. What will be the negative impact of these 2 figures on the results of 2021, having in mind that we'll see the full impact, negative impact of these 2 factors. Does JSTB plan to hedge steel prices?
I'd like to ask Robert Ostrovsky to respond to the question. Ladies and gentlemen, we've not seen any major impact of these factors on how our costs are fleshing out. We have contracts with our suppliers. So the contracts were entered into in prior months. We don't see how the current situation in terms of services and steel prices will affect costs in the subsequent period.
I can confirm that we do not hedge steel prices. Thank you very much. Then we have the next question. According to the company, how much longer will coking coal prices stay where they are, are we talking about 1 or 2 quarters? And does the Company anticipate that these prices will stay at this level for a longer period of time?
And if so, why? I'd like to ask Sebastian Bartos to respond to this question. So, ladies and gentlemen, JSW doesn't publish forecasts, and we don't talk about forward looking periods. Our sales follow the international market and the quotations we see. We utilize the services of expert forecasts for the EU dedicated to JSW.
But we, as a production company, we don't produce or publish such forecasts. Does the management port uphold its position? Did it won't buy the Kalemba mine and the Bierravica mine? I can only say that the management team is not involved in any discussions on that subject. Thank you very much.
Could the management explain the adjustment of the consolidation adjustment? Why is it such a high amount? And will it be reversed in Q3 of this year? I'd like to ask Robert Ostrovsky to respond to the question. Ladies and gentlemen, during the presentation, I discussed this issue.
I can remind you there are 2 major items. So unrealized profits on inventories on coking on coal and coke, and this is because of contracts within the group. And those were unrealized profits to internal buyers. And then we have a second item of 25, 000, 000 swats. These are consolidation this is because of dividends that were paid based on the shareholder meeting decisions in the first half of the year.
And despite the dynamic growth of coking coal price and coke prices, you're selling products below the cost of production. Please respond to that information. And what is the current sales price? Then I would ask Sebastian Bartos to respond to the question. So responding to that question, coking coal is quoted according to 2 different systems.
And I present we presented that today. And so we have official published benchmarks for Australian coal. And it's very clear. All price increases, especially after the first half of the year, what came at the end of June. And these are this is how those contracts are being performed in terms of Coke.
I think we can say clearly from the beginning of the year, the sales of Coke is done quarter on quarter with sales price increases. And so we have a high margin, positive margin. It's not possible for us to state the prices because we have confidential conditions, but we have the average sales price stated in today's presentation. And the final question, at what prices will GSW sell its products in Q3? Once again, I'd like to ask Sebastian Bartos to respond to that question.
As JSW, we publish results for Q2. That's the subject of today's conference. We'll be able to respond to that question at the next conference after Q3 comes to an end. I'd like to thank everybody who have sent in their questions to the company. And if in the meantime, you're going to have additional questions, then the responses to the questions will be given by our Investor Relations department.
So ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank all of you very cordially for your participation in today's earnings conference. I'd like to thank all of the employees of the JSW Group for their work and commitment. And I'd like to thank all of you who've contributed to organizing today's conference. So I'd like to thank my Vice Presidents and thank you very much for your participation.