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US thermal coal exports jump to 5-year highs on Asian demand: Maguire

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United States thermal coal exports hit their highest levels since 2018 during the first eight months of 2023, climbing 20% from the same period in 2022 thanks to strong demand from key consumers including China, India and South Korea.

Total U.S. exports of coal used for power generation hit 22.5 million tonnes through August, up from 18.3 million in the same period in 2022, according to ship tracking data from Kpler…Full Story

India, China grapple with hydropower shortage, fossil fuel use up in Asia

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Asia is currently experiencing its most significant hydropower crunch in decades, with China and India, the two countries that account for approximately three-quarters of Asia’s power generation, witnessing sharp declines. 

This situation has compelled power regulators to rely more heavily on fossil fuels amidst fluctuating electricity demand and unpredictable weather patterns…Full Story

Coal shortage now at alarming levels, say aluminium producers

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With no relief in sight despite coal stocks running critically low and production disruptions looming across the Indian aluminium sector, the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has urged the union coal ministry for immediate resumption of adequate coal rakes for the highly power-intensive Aluminium industry.

In its representation to the Ministry, the AAI has lauded the combined efforts by the Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited in reviving domestic coal production, which has helped ease the coal supply crisis for the Power Sector. The steps undertaken by the Ministry increased the overall daily rakes dispatched from 242 rakes/day in September 2021 to 289 rakes/day in December 2021…Full Story

Coal Shortage Crisis: 15 Of 135 Power Plants Have Zero Days Of Stock

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Concerns on coal have also come from political quarters, as Power Minister RK Singh describes the situation as "touch and go"

By - Mohammed Kudrati | Boom Live


India is running perilously low on coal for thermal power generation, shows data from the Central Electricity Authority. According to their daily release on coal stocks through the National Power Portal, 15 of India's 135 coal-fired thermal power plants have zero days worth of coal, which is as of September 30. 

On average, the data shows that there is only four days worth of coal stock, that is 8.082 million tons of coal. The data show that the daily requirement for coal across all categories of plants is 1.825 million tons. 104 power plants have critical or super critical supplies, which the data show is eight days or less worth of supplies...Full Story

China Energy Crunch Triggers Alarm, Pleas for More Coal

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By David Stanway | Reuters

As a severe power crunch roils China’s northeastern industrial heartland, senior officials face mounting pressure from alarmed citizens to ramp up coal imports thick and fast in order to keep lights on, factories open and even water supplies flowing.

With electricity shortages sparked by scant coal supply crippling large sections of industry, the governor of Jilin province, one of the hardest hit in the world’s no.2 economy, called for a surge in coal imports, while a power company association said supply was being expanded “at any cost”.

News organisations and social media carried reports and posts saying the lack of power in the northeast had shut down traffic lights…Full Story

It’s not over for coal as global prices surge on hot demand

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By Dan Murtaugh and Vanessa Dezem | Sydney Morning Herald

Coal is seeing a dramatic spike in demand just as several major miners are hit with production problems, sparking a surge in prices from China to Europe.

Prices for the dirtiest fossil fuel are soaring as sweltering temperatures in North Asia increase air conditioning needs, adding to already strong demand due to the industrial recovery from the pandemic. Mine safety issues in China, heavy rainfall in Indonesia and disruptions in Colombia are constraining output.

The price spike comes amid an existential crisis for coal, with climate policies making it increasingly difficult to invest in new projects. The squeeze might not change that, but it’s providing miners with a windfall while it lasts…Full Story

Seaborne thermal coal traders wary on near-term imports as COVID-19 worsens in Indonesia

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By Fred Wang | Platts

An uptick in the number of coronavirus cases in Indonesia have stoked concerns on the possibility for various coal consuming regions to implement more stringent checks on ships coming from Kalimantan, sources said Monday.

China imported 68.1 million mt of coal in the first two months of this year, up 33.3% from 51.1 million mt from the year-ago figure, according to data from the country’s General Administration of Customs.

Seaborne thermal coal traders largely attributed the reason for the surge in imports to a domestic production crunch since the COVID-19 outbreak in late January.

A South China-based trader said incoming ships from Indonesia might have to go through Chinese quarantine checks, just like how outgoing Chinese ships faced safety checks earlier last month.

Some ports in southern China have already imposed import restrictions on seaborne coal, and it could worsen if China decides to further quarantine and check on incoming Indonesian ships, said an east China-based source…Full Story

Former Gupta-linked Optimum Coal Mine goes up in flames

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Optimum Coal Mine in Middelburg, Mpumalanga went up in flames after a fire set the mine’s conveyor belts alight on Sunday.

The Middleburg Observer reports that while it is unclear what caused the fire, it is believed that it may be sabotage.

Initial reports suggest that the fire started next to the conveyor belts and then spread onto the mine grounds.

The former Gupta-linked mine, which supplied coal to Eskom, had gone under business rescue in February 2018.

Gupta-owned Tegeta bought Optimum from Glencore in 2016 for R2.15bn in a deal shrouded in mystery, Fin24 previously reported.

Business rescue practitioner, Louis Klopper told News24 on Monday he did not want to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“One of the overhead transmission cables fell down into the dry grass and set it alight, simple as that…Full Story

A Burning Question for Coal’s Brightest Star

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India is the world’s fastest-growing market for the fossil fuel. So why are investors fleeing?

By David Fickling | Bloomberg

If India is such a bright hope for global coal demand, why can’t investors see it?

The country will experience the largest increase in coal burning through 2023, according to the International Energy Agency, with a 3.9% annual pace of growth that should be enough to offset falling consumption in developed countries. BloombergNEF, whose forecasts tend to be less bullish than the IEA’s on fossil fuel demand, is not far behind: Coal-fired generation will increase about 48% by 2030 to hit 1,512 terawatt-hours, more than all of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

The curious thing is that when you look at the Indian power sector, there are few signs it’s on the brink of a boom. Quite the opposite: As many as 65 gigawatts of the 90GW of private-sector generators connected in India are under financial stress, according to a parliamentary report last year. As my colleague Andy Mukherjee has written, the resulting 1.8 trillion rupees ($26 billion) in bad loans is contributing to a nonperforming asset crisis that risks undermining the Indian financial system.

Furthermore, activity to increase coal-fired generation is overwhelmingly dependent on state support. Out of 48GW of coal generators planned to be built by 2027 under the country’s current electricity plan, just 14% is being developed by the private sector; a matching 48GW of generation is already slated for retirement by the same date.  

Even that modest level of private investment appears to be retreating now, according to a report published Friday by the Centre for Financial Accountability, a Delhi-based group pushing for better standards of development finance. Lending to coal-fired power fell 90% in 2018, to 60 billion rupees from 608 billion rupees the previous year, the CFA said. The vast majority of that total was refinancing of existing plants: Just 12 billion rupees was dedicated to new generation, all of it to just one state-backed plant in Uttar Pradesh…Full Story

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