The situation of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa is getting heated. Billions of losses, tons of wasted cash, the threat of loss of liquidity and the dismissal of key managers, including the president – these are the reports only from recent weeks. The government led by Prime Minister Tusk promises to save JSW, meanwhile the miners have already taken to the streets and the company's price on the WSE is in red.
The nervous situation around Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa is reflected in the company's price on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The JSW share price fell on Tuesday, October 14, by over 7.5%. Investors also sold the company's shares on Monday, when they dropped the price by 1.7%. lower compared to Friday's closing.
Meanwhile, the company announced in a statement on Saturday that it had started preparations for the business restructuring process. From the investment point of view, it seems that the previous months were wasted, because the Strategic Transformation Plan implemented from the end of 2024 for, among others, increasing production and improving efficiency must be replaced by formal restructuring, which, as we hear, is to involve the State Treasury, the main shareholder.
Tusk: The government will do everything to save JSW. “PGZ may be involved in this process”
Costs are one thing, revenues are another
The price drops may be surprising at first glance, since the government has only positive news for the company. First and foremost, myself Prime Minister Donald Tusk drew attention to the situation at JSW and declared that the government would do everything to save JSWand perhaps Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa may be involved in this process. JSW is the largest EU producer of coking coal needed to produce steel, a key element in the supply chain for the defense sector.
Secondly Deputy Minister of State Assets Robert Kropiwnicki announced that a decision on the return of PLN 1.6 billion of the solidarity contribution to JSW should be made by the end of Octoberwhich the company paid in 2023 as the only one in Poland. Thirdly, the Ministry of Energy announced that it would not leave JSW without support, and one of the ideas is to include miners from JSW in the package of protections intended for employees of Polish mines as part of the ongoing draft amendment to the Mining Act.
The JSW staff will face cuts. Kropiwnicki: Wage reduction by 15%. that's the minimum
However, the whole thing does not create a positive picture for investorsbecause although restructuring may result in a reduction in wages, and if miners are covered by a government protection package, job cuts are possible, which may make costs manageable, but the prices of the raw material extracted by JSW are of fundamental importance. And according to the acting president of JSW, Bogusław Oleksa, “they will continue to be unfavorable in the next two years.”
Contract prices for Australian premium hard coking coal, which is a benchmark for the prices of coal mined by JSW, almost
they have remained below $200 per tonne since the beginning of the yearwhich, given the low USD/PLN exchange rate, makes production unprofitable. Throughout 2024 The cash cost of mining one tonne at JSW was over PLN 804 per tonne, and although it dropped to PLN 778 in the first half of 2025, it still means sales losses at coal prices.
JSW miners have strong cards
In the context of the company's restructuring, the most talked about thing is employment, because it is the costs of employee benefits that JSW cannot bear. During the commodity boom, the management boards of JSW agreed to enormous salary increases for employees. In 2023, expenses on employee benefits amounted to PLN 7.4 billion and were 29.6% higher. rdr.
In 2024, this cost has decreased, but only by 1.5%. to PLN 7.29 billion and only due to the lower value of prizes, but the problem of rising mining costs remained. After the first half of 2025, the costs of employee benefits amounted to nearly PLN 3.6 billion, and the pace of decline was far behind the decline in coal prices, which in the first half of 2025 decreased by 33%. rdr.
The costs consume tons of cash that JSW accumulated during the commodity boom. According to the half-year report, in the special fund where JSW has funds set aside for a rainy day, net assets as of June 30 decreased to PLN 1.4 billion, although a year earlier it was PLN 5.8 billion, understood as JSW's actual involvement in certificates issued by the Fund.
However, the miners, happy with the level of remuneration earned during the boom, are calling for help for JSW, although the success of the entire spectacle titled “Saving JSW” depends mainly on them. It is worth recalling that the issue of employee benefits at JSW is based on the Collective Agreement between the company and representative trade unions.which provides for employment guarantees for all JSW employees for a period of 10 years from the date of conclusion of the Agreement (March 31, 2021).
If the company fails to meet the guarantee, it will be obliged to pay compensation in an amount equal to the product of the average monthly remuneration in the company in the year preceding the termination of the employment relationship and the number of months remaining until the expiry of the employment guarantee period. Therefore, the miners have strong cards in their hands, which were given to them by the company's previous management.
JSW miners are already protesting, managers are leaving
Off the cards, they are well organized when it comes to fighting for wages. The largest unions in Upper Silesia, such as NSZZ “Solidarność”, OPZZ, Trade Union Forum and WZZ August 80, have resumed the initiative of the Inter-Union Protest and Strike Committee (MKPS).announcing protests and demanding talks with the government regarding mining, metallurgy and the automotive industry.
At the beginning of November, as part of coordinated activities, a protest by trade unionists in Katowice is planned. MKPS calls for urgent action to protect jobs. Already on October 14, August 80 trade unionists organized a protest and a mass blockade of Jastrzębie-Zdrój in defense of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa.
It's today. They will block Jastrzębie-Zdrój. Miners are fighting for the survival of JSW and the entire city. Farmers are expected to join the protesters. https://t.co/dwTR3i5Hjd
— tarnogorski.info (@TGtarnogorski) October 14, 2025
The slogan of the demonstration is “Let's save JSW. Let's save our city.” According to the local portal tarnogórski.info, the miners were also joined by representatives of other trade unions and farmers. Protesters blocked several important roundabouts in the city and then marched to the JSW headquarters, shouting slogans in defense of jobs.
For now Key managers leave JSWwho were to manage the situation in the company after the change of power in Poland. Already in March this year. the vice president for development resigned. In September, the supervisory board dismissed the vice president for finance. At the beginning of October, the same thing happened to the president, Ryszard Janta, who was replaced in his duties by Bogusław Oleksy, previously a member of the supervisory board.
“Today (Minister Kropiwnicki, editor's note) wants to start the restructuring of JSW by digging into the miners' pockets. Mr. Minister! If you want these miners to storm the company's headquarters and public buildings, you are on the best way to achieve it. Tell us what you have done for JSW over the last two years. Tell us why JSW is not getting the money it is owed. Let it “You will tell me why these miners should be in a worse situation than miners from PGG, PKW and Węglokoks,” commented its chairman Bogusław Ziętek on the Facebook profile of the National Commission of WZZ “August 80”.
Michal Kubicki
