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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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Wednesday, 24 March 21
MARKET INSIGHT - INTERMODAL
Since the start of the pandemic, the shipping industry has efficiently responded to ensure the continuity of operations and hence the security of s ...
Tuesday, 23 March 21
LOWER WHOLESALE PRICES PUT PRESSURE ON AUSTRALIAN ENERGY RETAILERS - FITCH RATINGS
Fitch Ratings expects the low wholesale energy prices in the Australian National Energy Market to persist through to 2022, which will affect electr ...
Tuesday, 23 March 21
SCRUBBER-FITTED SHIPS NEARLY DOUBLE AS FUEL SPREAD SETTLES AT $118 PER MT - PETER SAND
As the lion’s share of the world fleet replaced high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) with low-sulphur fuel oil (LFSO) as a mean of propulsion to be c ...
Tuesday, 23 March 21
CHINA'S COAL OUTPUT EDGES UP IN FIRST TWO MONTHS - XINHUA
China’s raw coal output rose 25 percent year on year to 620 million tonnes in the first two months of 2021, official data showed.
...
Wednesday, 17 March 21
MARKET INSIGHT - INTERMODAL
Shipping market players are familiar with the inverse correlation between the freight market and demolition activity i.e. when the market picks up ...
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- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Planning Commission, India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- PTC India Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
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