We welcome article submissions from experts in the areas of coal, mining,
shipping, etc.
To Submit your article please click here.
|
|
|
Friday, 05 March 10
COAL RALLY ON CHINESE DEMAND SPARKS $59 ESTIMATES
 Bloomberg reportd that, A rally that has boosted coal prices 21 percent from their lows last year may have further to go as the coldest U.S. winter in nine years and China’s record imports increase demand and drain stockpiles.
Prices will average $59.28 a ton this year, up 17 percent from $50.75 as of Feb. 19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange and 41 percent more than last year’s low in April, according to the median of 11 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Stockpiles at utilities swelled last year after a mild summer and the economic recession reduced power demand.
China, the world’s biggest coal user, imported 16.4 million metric tons in December, a sixfold increase from a year earlier, customs data show. Record snowfall buried parts of the U.S., the second-biggest coal consumer, including Dallas and the mid- Atlantic states. The cold weather is reducing a surplus and giving producers Patriot Coal Corp., Consol Energy Inc. and Alpha Natural Resources Inc. power to negotiate higher prices.
“We’re definitely bullish for a confluence of factors,” said Jeremy Sussman, senior coal analyst at Brean Murray Carret & Co., a New York-based boutique investment bank. “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel in the U.S. The weather has definitely had an impact. The international market is front and center.”
Consol, the second-biggest U.S. coal company by market value, will jump 18 percent to $59 by the end of this year in New York trading, according to the median of 17 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Alpha, the third-biggest U.S. coal producer by output, will climb 22 percent to $57.46, analysts forecast.
Patriot Rises
Patriot rose 35 cents, or 2 percent, to $17.62, today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest price since Jan. 21. Consol added 3 cents, to $49.94. Alpha slipped 16 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $46.94. Massey Energy Co., the sixth- biggest U.S. coal producer, climbed 12 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $44.39.
Hedge funds have been buying energy producers, mining companies and airlines, a sign that managers from Louis Bacon to David Tepper are convinced the economy will accelerate. Duquesne Capital Management LLC, led by Stanley Druckenmiller, bought 6.2 percent of Massey, whose earnings are projected to double this year.
The increased U.S. and Chinese consumption prompted Michael Dudas, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, to raise his 2010 price target for coal to $70 per ton, a figure he originally forecast for 2011.
Coal Inventories
“The weather and better electricity generation have pushed stockpiles lower than people anticipated,” said Dudas, who has followed coal for a decade. “It’s really just accelerating that price.”
Utilities have 57 days worth of coal on hand, down from more than 70 days at the start of winter, according to Genscape Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based energy data provider.
“The pricing increases are real,” Consol Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Deiuliis said in a telephone interview. “If you look at the pricing increases we’re seeing now in regard to future sales, they have not only floored or held their bottom, they are starting to spike up.”
Coal is used to generate electricity and produce steel, making it a barometer for the economy. U.S. steel capacity utilization tumbled to 68 percent as of Feb. 15 from 91 percent in August 2008, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute, as unemployment climbed to 10 percent and consumers reduced spending 3 percent on appliances in December from a year earlier.
Prices Slide
The U.S. summer from June through August was 7 percent cooler than the same period a year earlier, reducing demand for power to run air conditioners, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Prices plunged 66 percent to $48.15 per ton at the end of 2009 from a record $143 on July 1, 2008, the steepest decline in at least eight years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 17 percent gain forecast by analysts would be the largest since 2007.
Utilities amassed a record 207 million tons as demand for coal to generate electricity dropped 12 percent through Sept. 30, according to the most recent U.S. Energy Department data. Consumption for 2009 was projected to be below 1 billion tons for the first time since 1995. The government will release final figures in March.
Producers cut back output as demand slumped and that’s having an impact even as demand rises. U.S. coal production will slump about 2.8 percent this year just as exports increase 5.6 percent, the Energy Department said Feb. 10.
Record Snowfall
The 2009-2010 winter season, which began Dec. 1, is the coldest since the 2000-2001 season and ranks in the coldest third of winters in the past 115 years, according to Jeff Masters, director of meteorology for Weather Underground Inc., a private forecaster based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The federal government shut down for four days this month after Washington was hit with a storm that set a seasonal snow total of 54.9 inches, shattering a 110-year-old record.
For St. Louis-based Patriot, Pittsburgh-based Consol and Alpha, based in Abingdon, Virginia, the frigid conditions are providing relief.
“The cold weather is the best thing they can get right now that’s not a full economic recovery,” said Daniel Scott, an analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co. in New York. “People are no longer scared to talk about thermal coal.”
Interest Rates
The risk to forecasts for higher coal prices is a glut of natural gas in the U.S. and prospects for the economy to stumble as the Federal Reserve boosts interest rates for the first time since June 2006. The Fed last week raised the discount rate charged to banks for direct loans by a quarter point to 0.75 percent to encourage banks to borrow in private markets.
“If the economy tanks again, that changes the outlook,” according to James Rollyson, senior coal analyst at Raymond James Financial Inc. in Houston. “The economy and particularly this year natural gas prices are the variables. Coal lost market share to natural gas because we averaged $4 gas for the year.”
The U.S. relies on coal for about half of its power generation, compared with about 20 percent for gas.
Gas has to stay above $5 per million British thermal units to prevent it from being more attractive to utilities at the expense of coal. Natural gas for March delivery fell 14.9 cents, or 3 percent, to $4.895 per million Btu. Rollyson estimates that through November coal lost about 40 million tons worth of demand to gas.
Chinese Imports
China’s National Energy Administration said Jan. 25 that a coal shortage will persist through March. The country has maintained the record import pace set in December because of the country’s coldest winter in at least 50 years, according to Sutthichai Kumworachai, an analyst with KGI Group in Bangkok.
The country’s gross domestic product expanded 10.7 percent last quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2007, after the government introduced a $586 billion stimulus package that spurred energy consumption.
China’s appetite for coal led to imports from South Africa, diverting supplies from Europe and creating an opportunity for eastern U.S. coal companies such as Alpha Natural Resources, Consol and Patriot to increase sales across the Atlantic Ocean, Brean Murray Carret’s Sussman said.
This year Consol has sold almost 500,000 tons of coal into Asian markets, a 23 percent increase from the 400,000 tons that it shipped to the region for the first time last year, Dan Zajdel, a company spokesman said. As more companies follow, the exports will squeeze U.S. utilities, said Pearce Hammond, an analyst at Simmons & Co. International in Houston.
Lower Temperatures
“That’s essentially robbing utilities of coal,” Hammond said. “They don’t need it right now, but in the future they will.”
From the mid-Atlantic to the Southeast through the Gulf Coast into Texas, temperatures are averaging 4 degrees to 8 degrees below normal, said Tom Kines, a senior expert meteorologist with AccuWeather.com in State College, Pennsylvania.
“That is pretty significant,” he said.
The cold is having an impact as measured by heating-degree- day values, which have been trending higher along the East Coast and across the South, according to the National Weather Service. The value is calculated by subtracting the average daily temperature from a base of 65 degrees and is designed to show energy demand.
New York Weather
This month, New York’s heating-degree-day value is 572, or 36 greater than normal, according to the National Weather Service.
Coal prices will get a larger boost if the U.S. economy can sustain its recovery, Alpha Chief Executive Officer Kevin Crutchfield said in an interview. The world’s largest economy will grow 3 percent this year and next, according to the median estimate of 62 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
“That would be the best thing in the quiver, a bona-fide economic recovery, especially on the industrial side,” Crutchfield said. “If you see any type of economic stimulus and economic recovery at all, that would hasten the recovery even faster.”
Source: Bloomberg - Mario Parker
If you believe an article violates your rights or the rights of others, please contact us.
|
|
Monday, 24 May 10
INDONESIAN COAL PRICE REFERENCE (HBA) FOR MAY 2010 REACHES US$ 92.07 PER TON FOB VESSEL
COALspot.com: The directorate general of mineral, coal and geothermal of Indonesia has released Indonesian coal price reference (HBA) for Month of M ...
Monday, 24 May 10
PAMA TO CLOSE COALS ACQUISITION IN 2010
Insider Stories reported that, Indonesia's largest coal mining contractor PT Pamapersada Nusantara, subsidiary of PT United Tractors Tbk (UNTR), wi ...
Sunday, 23 May 10
SINGARENI LEVIES PREMIUM TO BALANCE COAL DEMAND - BUSINESS STANDARD
Business-Standard reported that, In view of the rising demand for coal, Singareni Collieries Company Limited has recently levied a premium on c ...
Saturday, 22 May 10
THE BRENT CRUDE PRICES WAS SHARPLY DOWN AT US$ 71.72 PER BARREL - VISTAAR SHIPPING
COALspot.com: The freight market was under pressure with the caps size index down by 10 pct with uncertainty in Europe crisis continuing.
The BD ...
Saturday, 22 May 10
PORT CONGESTION IN AUSTRALIA HELPING RATES CHINA COAL IMPORT BOOM TO CUSHION FREIGHT RATES
China's record coal imports this year will provide some support to freight rates but growing pressure from fleet oversupply is set to limit gains. ...
|
|
|
Showing 5821 to 5825 news of total 6871 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- White Energy Company Limited
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Australian Coal Association
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Economic Council, Georgia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
|
| |
| |
|
