Energy Publishing Asia Pacific

Global coal prices have continued to fall in recent months and while many believe there is still room for thermal and coking coal prices to dip further, the long-term forecasts remain bullish. However, the Australian industry faces some challenges.

There are reports kickbacks are driving the ever-growing demand for thermal coal into a usually price-sensitive China at a time when coal producers seem to be struggling to sell their product elsewhere in the world. But is the bubble about to burst?

As industrial action spreads like a fire across South Africa’s mining sector, thermal coal mines have largely been unscathed so far. But fears are growing this may only be a temporary reprieve.

As Australia’s coking coal producers continue to seek signs of a revival in the industry, recent benchmark pricing & market sentiment suggests prices could continue to fall. Energy Publishing’s Marian Hookham looks at why.

It used to be China was the promised land for international coal producers hoping to cash in on a developing economy before attention turned to India. But the land of the tiger is proving a frustrating market to deal with as the land of the dragon.

Just as India opens its doors to global mega-brands including WalMart, there is still no shifting the attention away from the Coalgate scandal and the implications it has for India’s coal sector.

With China’s economy continuing to show signs of slowing, there is little expectation the Asian nation’s appetite for coking coal, a steel-making raw material, is going to match the expectations of producers desperate for a sign of recovery.

Indian companies are plunging billions of dollars into Southern African coal projects to firm up supply as India’s coal mining sector struggles to meet domestic demand. This puts Botswana, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique into the spotlight.

Preying on fears strike contagion could sweep across the landscape of the South African coal mining sector, the National Union of Mineworkers will table new wage demands for the country’s coal miners on September 28.

As global thermal coal demand remains tepid, leading coal industry producer, Xstrata Coal and Japanese Power Utilities, are thought to be close to settling a new term contract at a price just below US$100/t.