Coal News

Indonesia coal output seen 260 mln T in 2009 trade
NEW DELHI, Indonesia's coal output is expected to be 250 million to 260 million tonnes this year with domestic demand seen at 68 million tonnes, the head of a mining body said on Wednesday. Jeffrey Mulyono, chairman of Indonesian Coal Mining Association, also said global coal prices were "normal" now and demand was unlikely to drop significantly. "Of course psychologically it may seem that energy demand will decrease. But in reality it is not so much," he said.

China Coal-Prices little changed despite plunge abroad
SHANGHAI, China's spot coal prices were little changed from a week earlier, despite the sharp fall in the international market, and demand for coal remains sluggish. Prices of thermal coal in Newcastle, Australia, a benchmark for Asia, dropped to the lowest level in nearly 20 months, to below $65 per tonne, according to globalCOAL. But the falling prices are unlikely to boost China's coal imports, as the domestic demand, as well as spot prices, remain weak, industry sources said.

S.Korea's LG Int'l Corp enters Canada coal mine JV
SEOUL, South Korean trading house LG International Corp (001120.KS) said on Wednesday it had set up a joint venture with a Canadian energy firm and a Japanese trading firm to develop a coal mine in Canada. The $11 million Comox Joint Venture with Canada's Compliance Energy Corp (CEC.V) and Japan's Itochu (8001.T) was set up to enter the Raven coal project in Canada, it said.

China's Datang says breakeven coal price 400 yuan
BEIJING, China Datang Corp, the parent of Datang International Power (0991.HK) (601991.SS), can break even when coal prices are about 400 yuan ($58.46) per tonne, general manager Zhai Ruoyu said on Wednesday. "We can solve the problem of losses if coal prices fall to around 400 yuan per tonne," he told reporters in Beijing.

Richards Bay Coal Exports Increased 2.4% in February
(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world’s largest coal-export facility, shipped 2.4 percent more coal in February than in the same month a year earlier. The terminal on South Africa’s northeast coast shipped 5.2 million metric tons of the fuel, compared with 5.08 million tons a year earlier and 4.12 million tons in January, the terminal said in an e-mailed response to questions today.