US rail agency to act soon on rate review changes

US rail agency to act soon on rate review changes

The US Surface Transportation Board (STB) is expected within the next two weeks to begin a process for rethinking how it determines whether rail transportation rates are reasonable, agency vice chairman Patrick Fuchs said yesterday. Updating those rules is the agency’s top priority, Fuchs said yesterday at the National Coal Transportation Association’s annual meeting in […]

Australia turns to India for coal exports: Update

Australia is focused on growing the Indian thermal coal market for its exports, despite warnings that the demand profile in India is uncertain. Australia’s resources minister Matthew Canavan flew into Calcutta today to promote sales of Australian thermal coal into India armed with a report from the government’s commodity forecaster the Office of the Chief […]

US rail traffic down on coal demand, trade war

Eastern US railroad CSX is the only major carrier to have increased coal shipments this year, with low natural gas prices driving down shipments at other railroads. The year-on-year increase in CSX’s coal volume has been relatively small, but it stands in sharp contrast with its competitors. CSX coal volume rose by 0.9pc during the […]

US coal producers to rely more on exports: Moody’s

 US coal producers will rely more heavily on export markets in coming years as domestic demand from power generation continues to fall, Moody’s Investors Service said. The ratings agency expects coal demand from US utilities to erode significantly between 2020-2030, driving contraction in the industry and increasing producers’ reliance on exports. Planned coal-fired power plant […]

World News: Australia sees gold overtaking thermal coal as export earner

Australia expects gold to overtake thermal coal as its fourth-largest export earner in the coming financial year as coal prices fall on subdued demand from Asia, while global tensions prop up gold prices. Asian demand for the heating fuel is expected to top out this year, as large consuming countries, including China, turn to cleaner […]

Canada, U.S. gain as India cuts dependence on Australian coking coal

Shipments of coking coal from the United States and Canada rose to a sixth of all Indian imports of the fuel during the year ended March 2019, as steelmakers in the coal guzzling country look to cut their dependence on Australia. Australia’s share in India’s coking coal market fell to 71%, or 36.91 million tons, […]

India taking more U.S. coking coal, pushing out Australia: Xcoal

India is buying more U.S. coking coal after disruptions in top supplier Australia, and as U.S. miners seek new markets due to declining demand from America’s steel industry, an executive at Xcoal Energy & Resources India said on Monday. Interruptions to Australian supply have worsened in the past few years, driving Indian steelmakers to seek […]

World News: Japan is the world’s third-largest coal-importing country

Japan imported more than 210 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2018, making it the world’s third-largest coal-importing country after only India and China. Japan continues to use steam coal to fuel one-third of its electricity generation and metallurgical coal for raw steel production. Japan imports nearly all (99%) of the coal it consumes. Australia is Japan’s primary coal supplier, supplying […]

Colombian cement maker Cementos Argos imports coal

The elevated cost of securing and transporting coal from Colombia’s interior region has prompted a major cement maker with coastal facilities to import coal and petroleum coke from the US. The elevated cost of producing coal in inland Colombian provinces and trucking to coastal regions has led to an 11pc increase in fuel costs for […]

World News: Canadian coking coal exports weighed down by Europe

Canada exported 2.12mn t of coking coal in April, down by 18pc on the year, in the absence of shipments to key European destinations, data from Statistics Canada show. There were no coking coal shipments from Canada to the Netherlands, the UK and Germany in April, partly reflecting multiple headwinds facing western Europe’s steel industry. […]