http://trib.com/...
Will coal's rail problem be solved in 2015?
The two largest rail companies serving mines in the Powder River Basin -- the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe -- aren’t carrying as much coal as they used to. By some estimates, rail congestion cost miners in the basin between 20 million and 25 million tons in missed shipments during 2014.
The rails improved as 2014 progressed, according to many coal executives. BNSF, which experienced the majority of the problems, spent $5.5 billion to expand terminal capacities, purchase 600 locomotives and hire more than 6,000 people to boost relief crews across the United States in 2014. The company is spending more than $6 billion this year to continue its rebuilding effort.
"We still have work to do," said Matthew Jones, BNSF spokesman. "Rebuilding coal stockpiles will occur throughout 2015 and in some cases into 2016. We will continue to make every effort to communicate frequently and be transparent with our customers."
http://dot111.info/...
Regulator orders BNSF to submit coal delivery plans
January 3, 2015 | Journal Star |The U.S. Surface Transportation Board directed BNSF Railway Co. to submit a detailed description of its contingency plans to mitigate potential inventory shortages for its electric utility coal shippers. The board’s order responds to a petition submitted by the Western Coal Traffic League, in which WCTL members express concern with potential impacts of poor rail service on coal stockpiles and their ability to generate reliable power for their customers.
http://www.friendsofcoal.org/...
Weekly Report on Coal Production & Prices (9 January 2015)
Monday | January 12, 2015
According to the latest report from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), coal production in the United States rose by 390,000 million tons for the week ending January 3, compared to the same time last year. Production for the week stood at 17.61 million tons compared to 17.22 million tons for the first week of January, 2014. For the 52-week period ending January 3, production was also up slightly, to 994.3 million tons from 982.1 million tons last year.
Imports picked up in November – up 18% -- to 1 million tons. Coal imports for the previous 52 weeks remain up 32% to 10.8 million tons.
http://dot111.info/...
January 5, 2015 | ECT| As winter electricity demand ramps up, regulators have directed BNSF Railway Co. to explain what it plans to do if it fails to deliver much-needed coal to power plants.
Siding with NRECA and rail customers, the Surface Transportation Board told BNSF that it must submit detailed plans to deal with potential shortages in coal stockpiles for electric utilities.
http://dot111.info/...
Regulator orders BNSF to submit coal delivery plans
January 3, 2015 | Journal Star |The U.S. Surface Transportation Board directed BNSF Railway Co. to submit a detailed description of its contingency plans to mitigate potential inventory shortages for its electric utility coal shippers. The board’s order responds to a petition submitted by the Western Coal Traffic League, in which WCTL members express concern with potential impacts of poor rail service on coal stockpiles and their ability to generate reliable power for their customers.
http://www.alaskajournal.com/...
Demand for coal used in power generation is soaring on world markets, up 300 percent since 2000.
If Usibelli proceeds with the Wishbone Hill mine it would add up to 500,000 tons per year of coal production at maximum depending on purchases by customers, and employ 75 to 125.
Alaska has a lot of room to grow as a coal state. Half of the nation’s coal resources and a third of world coal resources, Graham told “Meet Alaska,” and though many of those resources are located in remote areas like the western Arctic Slope a lot of it is easily accessible to ice-free ports, like Usibelli’s mine and the potential Chuitna mine, which is at tidewater, as well as Wishbone Hill. Much of the Arctic coal resources, which are vast, are owned by Arctic Slope Regional Corp. of Barrow, the Alaska Native regional development corporation for northern Alaska.
http://www.worldcoal.com/...
EIA release Week 3 2015 US coal production estimate
US coal production totaled 19.4 million short t for the week ending 17 January, according to the weekly coal production estimate from the US Energy Information Administration. This is 2.5% higher that the previous week’s total of 18.9 million short t but 1.1% lower than the same week in 2014.
Production east of the Mississippi River was 8.1 million short t, up from 7.9 million t in the previous week, while west of the Mississippi production hit 11.3 million short t – up from 11 million short t.
Year-to-date production is 45.8 million short t, 1.8% higher than at this point last year.
http://coalinvestingnews.com/...
Guildford Coal Makes First Shipment of Coal
Wednesday March 11, 2015, 4:42am PDT
Australian Mining reported that Guildford Coal Ltd. (ASX:GUF) has made its first shipment of 6,000 tonnes of coal.
As quoted in the market news:
The miner has sent the shipment from its Baruun Noyon Uul coking coal in South Gobi, Mongolia, to Baotou Iron & Steel in China.
Following this initial shipment the miner has now lined up its next shipment of 20,000 tonnes for Jiuquan Iron & Steel, which is part of a wider 60,000 tonne contract to be completed over March and April.
http://www.mining.com/...
Oil aside, coal – specifically the power-generating variety – has turned out to be the real surprise commodity of 2015.
The benchmark thermal export price from Australia's port of Newcastle is up 22% in a month and on Monday scaled $70 a tonne for the first time in nearly six months.
According to CRU India will requiring an additional 136 million tonnes of imports by 2019. The majority of this import growth is expected to materialise over the next three years as significant coal-fired capacity comes on stream, and CRU expects India to replace China as the world's largest import market by 2015-2016.
The advance was most keen in the Pacific seaborne market as mines in Australia and South East Asia close, but Rotterdam and Appalachian prices (despite still rising production in the US) have also been lifted from multi-year lows.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/...
Chinese Plans to Transform Coal Would Worsen Global Warming
Chinese companies press forward with plans to process coal into other fuels, despite water scarcity and excess climate change pollution
February 23, 2015 |By Coco Liu and ClimateWire
The success the factory is aiming at is the operation of its coal-to-liquids business. Yankuang Group, China's coal giant, is betting its future on it. To ensure that the plant's production starts on time, over a thousand workers here have sacrificed holidays to push forward the construction.
And Yankuang is hardly alone. As Chinese leaders have pledged to burn less coal, coal companies in the country have been scrambling for ways to diversify their business. Plants that transform coal into liquid fuels—through coal gasification or other techniques—are among the top choices.
http://phys.org/...
Lithium from the coal in China: Extracting lithium metal from Chinese coal
Feb 26, 2015
Coal from China could become a major source of the metal lithium, according to a review of the geochemistry by scientists published in the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology.
Lithium is an essential component of rechargeable batteries used almost ubiquitously in mobile gadgets such as phones, laptops, tablet computers and in many electric vehicles. Worldwide annual consumption of this metal grew from 15100 tonnes in 2003 to 37000 tonnes by 2012, a 145 percent increase and demand is expected to rise even further as we move more towards sustainable power and electrical storage capacity increases.