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Thursday, 26 November 20
DECLINE IN COAL EXPORTS ADDS TO NAVAJO-OWNED COMPANY'S PROBLEMS - IEEFA U.S.
 Weak demand and low prices are likely creating steep losses for NTEC
U.S. coal exports to Asia—once heralded as the saving grace for struggling coal producers in the western United States—are facing new strains from low prices and weak demand in the wake of the global COVID-19 crisis.
In its third-quarter financial statement released earlier this month, Westshore Terminals in British Columbia, the primary terminal for U.S. thermal coal bound for the Pacific Rim of Asia, reported a 47% quarter-over-quarter drop in thermal coal exports. Quarterly thermal coal shipments from the terminal fell to their lowest level since 2016, when global coal markets were overwhelmed by a massive supply glut that sent seaborne coal prices crashing.
Even though the Westshore terminal is in Canada, virtually all of its shipments of thermal coal—the type burned in power plants—come from U.S. mines, mostly located in Montana. Data from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration suggest that Montana’s Spring Creek mine, owned by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC), bore the brunt of the decline. Coal production at Spring Creek totaled 2.2 million tons during the third quarter of 2020, down from about 3.9 million tons during the year-ago quarter. On an annualized basis, Spring Creek production has now fallen to its lowest level since 2003 (See Figure 1).
Meanwhile, production at the Signal Peak mine, the other major U.S. thermal coal exporter that ships through Westshore, held roughly steady compared to the year-ago quarter. (Signal Peak has been in the news for other reasons, having to do with a fraud and embezzlement scheme perpetrated by former executives. Signal Peak is partially owned by FirstEnergy, also in the news for fraud allegations.) Westshore doesn’t disclose its customer volumes, but Signal Peak’s relatively stable production during the quarter suggests that NTEC’s Spring Creek mine accounted for the bulk of the decline in thermal coal exports through Westshore.
In a related wrinkle, Westshore reported that it took in “$2.6 million [Canadian] of customer shortfall payments” from July through September. This means that at least one of the terminal’s shippers is paying penalties for shipping less coal than promised.
If last quarter’s shortfall payments are indeed coming from NTEC, the company is probably paying even more in penalties to BNSF, the rail company that moves Spring Creek coal to Westshore. (Documents from the 2019 bankruptcy filing of Cloud Peak Energy, the previous owner of the mine, suggest the company paid a little over $25 per ton in rail fees, more than twice as much as Westshore charges to ship a ton of coal.)
Cloud Peak shelled out millions of dollars in such payments to both BNSF and Westshore during times of low international prices, and—ironically enough—frequently shipped coal at a loss to avoid even steeper losses from contractual penalties.
NTEC touted its purchase in 2019 of Powder River Basin mines as a “prudent investment,” pointing to a study (commissioned by the company itself) arguing that Spring Creek exports held the “potential for high profitability.” Yet Cloud Peak had also had made big bets on Spring Creek exports—and those bets helped cement the company’s financial collapse.
Now, NTEC’s gamble on coal exports is backfiring—just as it backfired on Cloud Peak.
This will only worsen difficulties for NTEC, which has recently agreed to an ill-advised expansion of its stake in the aging coal-fired Four Corners power plant in New Mexico and whose core business—coal production for the domestic electricity industry—is in severe decline, and not just because of COVID but because utility companies continue to aggressively abandon coal for cheaper and more modern forms of generation.
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Monday, 29 March 21
MOODY'S: OUTLOOK FOR GLOBAL METALS AND MINING INDUSTRY TURNS POSITIVE ON HIGHER EBITDA IN PANDEMIC'S WAKE
- Demand for steel, iron ore and copper will rise, while aluminum, nickel and zinc will remain in surplus
- EBITDA is expected to ...
Thursday, 25 March 21
'OMNIBUS LAW' REGULATION ON INDONESIA’S ENERGY AND MINING SECTORS TO BOOST COAL PROCESSING BUT ALSO RAISES QUESTIONS - ABNR
February 2021 saw the issuance of a raft of new government regulations to give effect to the reformist Job Creation Law (colloquially known as the ...
Thursday, 25 March 21
PROPOSED SWITCH FROM COAL TO LNG THREATENS RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA - IEEFA
Renewables offer an ever cheaper, financially sustainable and energy secure alternative, better able to support developing nations
A ...
Thursday, 25 March 21
MAJOR INVESTMENT ADVISORS BLACKROCK AND MEKETA PROVIDE A FIDUCIARY PATH THROUGH THE ENERGY TRANSITION - IEEFA
BlackRock and Meketa say divestment from fossil fuels improves, not weakens, investment returns
Two major financial management firms ...
Thursday, 25 March 21
EUROPE PASSES MILESTONE WITH HALF OF COAL PLANTS CLOSED OR SET TO RETIRE BY 2030 - EURACTIV
Half of Europe’s 324 coal-fueled power plants have either closed or announced a retirement date before 2030, it emerged on Monday (22 March) ...
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- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Planning Commission, India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
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