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.
|
|
Tuesday, 19 January 10
COAL FOR DOMESTIC USERS
While the government is already almost a year behind schedule in issuing regulations to implement the new mining law, mineral producers have been&nb ...
Tuesday, 19 January 10
RISING DEMAND FROM POWER FIRMS TO PUSH COAL PRICES
The resurgence of the Chinese economy, along with harsh winter conditions across the country, is likely to push coal prices up in the short term. In ...
Tuesday, 19 January 10
ESSAR'S MEGA ACQUISITION PLANS
India’s Essar Group has carved a mega plan that includes a slew of acquisitions and investments in assets across various businesses. CNBC-TV18 ...
Monday, 18 January 10
INDONESIA SHIPPED 15.90 PERCENT OF TOTAL COAL EXPORTS IN 2009 TO INDIA
COALspot.com (Indonesia): Indonesia, the world largest coal exporter, exported 19.07 percent of the total coal export in 2009 to China and 15. ...
Monday, 18 January 10
BHP TO SPEND $267 MILLION ON QUEENSLAND COKING COAL
BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s largest mining company, will spend $267 million to accelerate development of the Caval Ridge mine and the Hay Po ...
|
|
|
Showing 6076 to 6080 news of total 6871 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- The University of Queensland
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- PTC India Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Australian Coal Association
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- White Energy Company Limited
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
|
| |
| |
|
