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 […]

Coal oversupply in the Atlantic ‘heading for Asia’

A recovery in the global seaborne coal markets is unlikely in 2019 given a possible oversupply of 25mn-30mn t this year if exports are not reined in, Rodrigo Echeverri, the head of research at Noble Resources, said this week. Total seaborne supply from many countries, and particularly Indonesia, could rise by around 25mn t to […]

EKPC seeks coal for 2020, 2021

East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) is seeking up to 480,000 short tons (435,456 metric tonnes) of coal for 2020-21. The Kentucky utility cooperative issued two requests for proposals (RFP) yesterday for its Spurlock Power Station. One solicitation seeks up to 10,000 st/month of coal for units 1 and 2 and the other is seeking up […]

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 […]

Arch, Peabody to combine western US coal assets

US coal producers Arch Coal and Peabody Energy today announced they will combine their Powder River basin (PRB) and Colorado assets into a joint venture. Increased competition in thermal coal markets require companies to increase efficiency, drive down costs and reduce future capital requirements, said John Eaves, Arch’s chief executive. “It is hard to envision […]

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 […]

Near-term North America coal outlook stable

Moody’s has kept its short-term outlook for the North American coal industry stable, primarily supported by steady metallurgical coal prices. It says thermal coal demand remains in secular decline. According to a research note, Moody’s expects flat to slightly lower EBITDA for North American coal miners through mid-2020, but any negative outlook signals, such as […]

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. […]