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BHP Billiton Signals Confidence in Its Coal Business

Coal being excavated at a U.S. mine earlier this month. Coal mining is one of the activities BHP Billiton still considers a core business. SYDNEY—The head of BHP Billiton Ltd. ‘s coal business signaled confidence in the outlook for the strained global coal industry, forecasting increases in world demand for decades to come. Dean Dalla Valle said he expects most demand growth to come from outside China, which has been the primary driver of global commodity prices in recent years. China currently accounts for about half of the world’s coal consumption. "Over the next couple of decades we expect global growth in demand for both energy coal and metallurgical coal," he said in a speech in Brisbane Wednesday. Although "the likes of India, a country not overly endowed with metallurgical coal, [is] anticipated to be the most significant source of new demand" for coal used in steelmaking, he said. […]

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UK’s biggest coal miner on verge of collapse

UK Coal is appealing for government support to stave off a collapse that would cost 2,000 jobs. The largest coal miner in Britain was rescued last year by the Pension Protection Fund , which preserves the pensions of employees whose companies go bust. But it is on the brink of insolvency again. Hargreaves Services , the only other domestic large scale miner , is also in talks to invest in the business, according to people familiar with the situation. Its proposal to buy UK Coal for £20m was rejected by administrators last year in favour of the PPF rescue. Hargreaves could not be reached for comment. In case that bid fails, UK Coal is asking for £10m of government funding to close two of the past three deep pits in Britain and sell off its surface mines. The business, which is burning cash reserves because of the low […]

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Lawmakers question how retiring US coal-fired power plants could affect winter grid challenges

US House of Representatives Republicans are concerned about how the retirement of a significant number of coal-fired power plants could affect the transmission grid in coming winters and are seeking answers from four grid operators on how those retirements will be handled, letters show. Citing the spikes in electricity prices, forced outages and other events of this past winter, top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including its chairman, Fred Upton, are concerned that "such outages and price increases could be further exacerbated in the future" as coal plants used to respond to acute needs this winter shut, they said. The lawmakers sent nearly identical letters on Wednesday to PJM Interconnection, New York Independent System Operator, Midcontinent Independent System Operator and ISO New England seeking answers on how their grids would have fared had the plants slated for retirement been unavailable. Article […]

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Japan's Answer to Fukushima: Coal Power

Japan is turning into a rare bright spot in the world coal market, stepping up coal-fired power generation to replace nuclear plants that went offline after the 2011 Fukushima accident. Plans by Japanese companies to spend billions of dollars on new coal-fired plants offer a striking contrast with the U.S., which has effectively blocked new coal plants using existing technology over concerns about global warming. And they show how deeply Japan’s energy picture has changed since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. On Thursday, Kyushu Electric Power Co. said it would restart a long-frozen project to build a one-gigawatt coal-fired unit in southern Japan. Other utilities including Co. have announced similar plans for more coal-fired power. If the plans all come to fruition, Japan’s coal-fired power capacity would increase to around 47 gigawatts over the next decade or so, up 21% from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Japan’s Answer to Fukushima: Coal Power

Japan is turning into a rare bright spot in the world coal market, stepping up coal-fired power generation to replace nuclear plants that went offline after the 2011 Fukushima accident. Plans by Japanese companies to spend billions of dollars on new coal-fired plants offer a striking contrast with the U.S., which has effectively blocked new coal plants using existing technology over concerns about global warming. And they show how deeply Japan’s energy picture has changed since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. On Thursday, Kyushu Electric Power Co. said it would restart a long-frozen project to build a one-gigawatt coal-fired unit in southern Japan. Other utilities including Co. have announced similar plans for more coal-fired power. If the plans all come to fruition, Japan’s coal-fired power capacity would increase to around 47 gigawatts over the next decade or so, up 21% from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Coal Sliding as Australian Flood Boost Lost in Drought

The drought across most of Australia ’s Queensland state means coal producers are exporting record volumes into an oversupplied market, depriving them of the usual price gains caused by weather disruptions. Shipments from Queensland, the biggest exporter of coal used in steelmaking, will rise 14 percent to 205 million metric tons in the 12 months ending June 30, the government says. The heavy rains that crimped output and boosted prices in three of the past four years by flooding pits such as Cockatoo Coal Ltd.’s Baralaba mine haven’t come this year. “Waters that we collected during that flood we’re now utilizing” to reduce dust and in the construction of a wall to protect against a 1-in-a-1,000 years flood, said Andrew Lawson, Cockatoo’s managing director. “Water is a risk and an opportunity,” said Lawson, who joined the company a year after flooding in 2010 halted output. Deluges in Queensland in […]

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North Carolina regulators cite Duke Energy for dumping coal ash

Environmental regulators in North Carolina have cited the country’s largest energy company for dumping millions of gallons of wastewater from coal ash ponds into a public waterway. The company could face $2.75 million in fines if the allegations are confirmed. The citations issued Thursday concern two coal ash ponds near the Cape Fear River,  where regulators allege Duke Energy  pumped the wastewater into a public canal, violating its environmental permit. Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal and contains high levels of toxic arsenic. In a statement to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, the company said the water pumped was within the limits of its permit and necessary to perform routine maintenance. “Our permit authorizes this type of maintenance specifically under the condition that we meet permit limits,” Duke Energy told Al Jazeera. “The water was being pumped to the existing, permitted outfalls.” However, Tom Reeder, director of North […]

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American Coal Feeding European Needs

Two stories from either side of the Atlantic Ocean ably demonstrate the interrelations at play in the energy sector. From Baltimore, The Wall Street Journal’s John Miller reports from a sprawling coal terminal that is at the front line of a booming business: selling American coal to the world. As the article explains, 2014 is on course to be the third straight year of record exports. Europe is the biggest target market, where demand is strong and, thanks to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, likely to grow further. A caveat comes from Brussels. The European Union’s climate chief, Connie Hedegaard, tells the Journal’s Vanessa Mock that although it is time to […]

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Japan’s Coal Imports Rise, Raising Carbon Emissions

smaller Larger facebook twitter google plus linked in Email Print facebook twitter google plus linked in Email Print smaller Larger facebook twitter google plus linked in Email Print Japan is on a path to increase its carbon-dioxide emissions because it is shifting to coal imports from more expensive liquefied natural gas. Recent trade statistics suggest Japan’s LNG demand has peaked even though the country continues to go without any nuclear power plants in operation. Meanwhile, coal imports are moving higher. In February, Japan’s LNG imports fell 0.2% compared to the same month a year earlier, following a 0.6% slip in January, customs data released Wednesday showed. Imports of thermal coal used to generate electricity rose 4.8% in February year-on-year, following a 17% rise in January, according to the data. Japan’s CO2 emissions climbed to their second-highest level on record in the year ended in March 2013 because most nuclear […]

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ASIA THERMAL COAL: Chinese buyers draw back as domestic market buckles

"Shenhua has achieved what it wanted by cutting prices. It may not want to cut its prices again this month," said a Shanghai-based trader. Smaller and medium-sized coal producers in China were among the most aggressive sellers in Friday’s market, as some seek to unload their remaining stock with a view to existing the business, said sources in China. In the seaborne market for China, April-arrival high-ash Australian cargoes were heard to trade this week at around $75.50/mt CFR in a thin market as Chinese buyers drove hard bargains. A Capesize cargo of Australian 5,500 kcal/kg NAR coal was being offered Friday at slightly above $76/mt CFR South China for April arrival, while bids were at $75.50/mt CFR, as heard through broker Starfuels. "The arbitrage into China for imported thermal coal is closed," said one market participant in Singapore. April-May delivery cargoes of 5,500 kcal/kg NAR Australian thermal coal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple