Sally McPherson blogs that less than a year ago the coal industry was said to be terminal, and yet the commodity has recently staged a comeback, with its steepest price rise in five years. The cargo prices from the Newcastle terminal (Australia) are seen as the benchmark for Asia, and they have jumped by more than 35% since mid-June this year, up to almost $US70 per tonne. The increase in prices is due to mine closures in Australia, the U.S. and Indonesia, along with policy changes by authorities in China, which has limited its production of coal to 276 days per year, cutting output by 16%. China is also funding coal miners in order to encourage them to shut down mines and leave the industry. Goldman Sachs had a gloomy outlook for coal last year, however this week it said that the restrictions by regulators in China has transformed coal, making it one of the best performing commodities so far this year.
Whitehaven Coal is benefiting, jumping from its $342 million loss in the 2015 financial year to a profit of $20.5 million in the year leading up to the 30th of June. Stephen Galilee is the chief executive of the Minerals Council of NSW, and he says things are looking up. He also said that if the price increases are sustained, the Hunter industry will be well positioned to maximize any further gains after a long and difficult period of bringing production costs down. He also said that he is expecting exports of coal in Australia to rise by 37% by 2040. Hopefully this increased demand will lead to more call for a new mine or two, which would need plenty of equipment and would also create jobs in the coal industry of Australia. I2M WP eds ....This is considered as a last surge for the coal industry before other sources of electrical production can be built up in China, India, and even Vietnam. New nuclear power plants will eliminate the need to burn this dirty energy resource during the 2020s but there will be other uses for coal in a non-burning roll.... see: http://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/CampbellJustNotforBurning-July19-2014Col.pdf
Original URL: http://blog.iseekplant.com.au/blog/news/news/news/news/news/news/test/blog/coal-officially-making-comeback
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