The coal industry is booming driven by growth in
export demand for coal world wide and the large number of coal - fired power plants currently scheduled to come online.
Not exact matches
Lower expected global
demand for U.S.
coal exports in 2018 and 2019 also contributes to the forecast of lower
coal production.
A key element in this shift is China; the value of Chinese
exports to Canada tripled over this period and Canadian
exports to China, while still small relative to
exports to the US, have grown steadily in value driven by commodity
exports which have been buoyed by high prices and huge
demand in China
for key Canadian
exports such as minerals (nickel, coking
coal, potash, copper and iron ore), pulp and lumber.
FCA's CEO Chris Ragot said «
Demand for export coal has significantly increased as global supplies tighten.»
He noted that U.S.
coal companies are already positioning themselves to boost
exports, especially to energy - consumptive countries like China, as domestic
demand for coal continues to drop off.
As U.S. domestic
demand for coal decreases, the pressure to expand U.S.
coal exports increases.
«The CO2 emissions related to China's
exports are large not just because they
export a lot of stuff or because they specialize in energy -
demanding industries, but because their manufacturing technologies are less advanced and they rely primarily on
coal for energy,» said co-author Klaus Hubacek, a University of Maryland professor of geographical sciences.
As domestic
demand increases
for both thermal and metallurgical
coal, China is expected to curtail
exports, possibly expanding markets
for other regional players like India, Australia and Indonesia.
[v] Even phasing out Australia's
coal exports would merely cause Australian GDP to double by 2031 instead of by 2030 [vi], paling in comparison to the impacts of the several degrees of global warming associated with continuing
demand for those
exports.
Our strategy to fight
export demand or any
demand for that matter is to win at the source and to keep the
coal in the ground.
Besides strong
demand for thermal
coal, which is burned in power plants, use of metallurgical
coal or coking
coal, used in blast furnaces, is also expected to more than double in China, to about 1.7 billion metric tons by 2016, as the country's steel mills churn out more steel
for automobiles, skyscrapers and
export goods, the Peabody study says.
While Americans are burning less
coal, Asian
demand is booming, so if companies can find a way to
export their excess supply, it's a win - win
for their dwindling profit margins!
BC's natural gas
exports will be hit with a big CA carbon tax, even though the BC natural gas supplies displace
demand for higher - emitting oil products and
coal - fired electricity imports.