- Write by:
-
Monday, October 4, 2021 - 13:27:43
-
278 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - Coal prices soared to their highest on record as China accelerated a global struggle for resources that has brought the dirtiest fossil fuel roaring back.
High-quality thermal coal loaded on ships at Newcastle port in Australia surged to $203.20 a ton, breaking the previous record set in July 2008. That’s the benchmark price for Asia, the world’s largest market for the fuel by far.
The rally comes during a global energy crunch that’s hitting China, the world’s biggest coal producer and consumer, especially hard. And as gas prices spike higher in Europe, there’s been a resurgence in demand for the fossil fuel that the continent’s policy makers have long been trying to phase out.
Still, there isn’t enough coal to go around. A German electricity producer closed one of its plants recently after it ran out of the fuel.
Earlier this week, Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng ordered state-owned energy giants to secure fuel supplies for winter at any cost. China consumes and mines half the world’s coal, and it’s also the largest importer. The government told miners to keep digging even if they’ve exceeded their annual quota.
Prices for thermal coal tracked by IHS Markit and Argus have surged since late 2020 as demand rebounded from the depths of the pandemic and with substitute fuels like natural gas becoming more expensive. The emissions-heavy fuel is back in vogue just weeks before nations gather in Scotland for the COP26 summit on climate change.
Supply issues also boosted prices. China has struggled to raise output amid tighter safety controls following fatal accidents, while torrential rains, labor problems and transportation bottlenecks hampered exports from countries such as Indonesia, Australia, Colombia and South Africa, among others.
The Newcastle coal benchmark could average $190 a ton from October to December, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a note in September.
The gains come as the world plans to shift away from the emissions-intensive fuel in favor of renewable sources that will help reach net-zero targets. Even China aims to start reducing domestic consumption by 2026, and President Xi Jinping pledged to stop building new coal-fired power plants abroad.
In the short term, demand in key nations is proving resilient. Thermal power generation in China was 14% higher in the year through August than in the previous two years. Demand in 2022 could be marginally higher than this year, potentially rising 1%, said Shirley Zhang, a coal analyst with Wood Mackenzie Ltd.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/616742
A prefeasibility study for Predictive Discovery’s (ASX: PDI) Bankan gold project in Guinea gives it a net present value ...
China’s state planner on Friday finalized a rule to set up a domestic coal production reserve system by 2027, aimed at ...
Chile’s SQM called another investors meeting at the request of its second-largest shareholder, Tianqi Lithium Corp., ...
Iron ore futures prices drifted higher on Thursday as the latest soft data from top consumer China triggered renewed ...
The world’s coal-fired power capacity grew 2% last year, its highest annual increase since 2016, driven by new builds in ...
Peabody Energy Corp. shares sunk to the lowest in seven months after the biggest US coal miner warned that first-quarter ...
Polish government is abandoning plans to separate coal-fired power plants into a special company and is considering ...
Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it is teaming up with a global venture studio and start-up investor to back the development ...
Outflows from global physically backed gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) continued for a 10th month in March, but at a ...
No comments have been posted yet ...