Coal mining industry restructuring in Poland: implications for the domestic and international coal markets

The paper describes the efforts to improve the profitability of the Polish hard-coal industry. The experience of seven years of restructuring programmes shows that the industry has to reduce the number of existing coal mines. Coal production in Poland will decrease and coal will no longer be the cheap source of energy. The final shape of hard-coal industry will force the change in energy balance of Poland and will change the position of Polish coal in the international coal market.