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Thursday, March 6, 2014

Coal - not dead yet, but outlook bleak

More mines to shut as coal woes deepen

Matt Chambers | The Australian | April 28, 2014

COKING coal prices have slumped to six-year lows, many Australian mines are not making money and the industry is set to close more of the mines that produce the nation’s second most valuable export.

A dramatic fall in quarterly contract prices for the steelmaking raw ingredient has caught ­industry players by surprise and led coal giant Peabody Energy to declare it is considering the ­closure of Australian mines it recently indicated were safe.

(Read more ...)






China fells steel furnaces 

Feb. 23, 2014 - China demolishes steel furnaces in northern Hebei Province as part of efforts to curb pollution, state media reports.

China on Sunday (February 23) demolished 19 steel furnaces in its top steel-producing province of Hebei to reduce production overcapacity as part of an effort to ease air pollution, state media reported.



Nineteen furnaces were torn down on Sunday morning in five cities of Hebei, a major industrial region which surrounds Beijing, as parts of China's campaign against industrial pollution, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported.

"China has vowed to tackle pollution and slash coal use."
China has vowed to tackle pollution in Hebei, saying in a wide-ranging action plan in September that it would ban new projects in some industries, close outdated steel and cement facilities, and slash coal use.

Hebei, home to some of the most polluted cities in China, has promised to cut total steel capacity by 86 million tonnes, about 40 percent of last year's production, by 2020.

 Its capital Shijiazhuang routinely recorded "beyond index" measurements of particulate matter (PM) in early 2013.

The demolition on Sunday was expected to reduce steel and iron production by 8.02 million tonnes, CCTV said.
(Read more ...)

Anglo Port Exit Sees Indian Billionaires Last Men Standing

By Elisabeth Behrmann Mar 7, 2014.

Anglo, the world’s fourth-biggest miner by market value, follows BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group in pulling out of plans for a coal port expansion at Abbot Point in Queensland, Australia. GVK Group and Adani Enterprises Ltd. are studying expansions at the port to export power station coal from separate mine projects they are planning inland in the Galilee Basin at a total cost of about $17 billion.

"Anglo’s move comes as thermal coal prices trade close to September’s four-year low amid a global supply glut."
Anglo’s move comes as thermal coal prices trade close to September’s four-year low amid a global supply glut swollen by increased output from major producers including Glencore Xstrata Plc.

Anglo’s decision “further erodes confidence that the major mines being proposed in the Galilee basin can happen in the current price environment,” Matthew Trivett, a Brisbane-based analyst with Patersons Securities Ltd., said by phone.
(Read more ...)



Posted by Askgerbil at 11:34 PM
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