The IEA 2013 5-year "Mid-Term" Coal Mkt Report came out yesterday. IEA forecasts 2.3% growth through 2018 with China consuming 60% of that increase in demand. This fcst is lower than last year's 2.6% due to changes in the China forecast (lower growth, more aggressive enviro restrictions and fuel switching). They also predict that many new export coal projects will be cancelled or delayed because there is already too much coal on the market (prices are below marginal cost for quite a number of producers) and all exporters have expansion plans. IEA Executive Summary here.
Global coal demand growth will slow through 2018 as China, the world's biggest consumer, seeks to cut its dependency on the power plant fuel, according to the International Energy Agency.
A greener China could put $45 billion of Australian coal projects in the red (based on Oxford Stranded Assets report linked to in Austr section) China's insatiable demand for energy has triggered a coal-mine building boom in Australia, which now supplies China with a third of its coal. With plans for 10 massive Australian coal mines worth more than $45 billion under way, investors are counting on China to keep burning the black stuff at a rapid clip to make those projects profitable. But that would a bad bet.
Coal Prices May Run Out of Steam - WSJ Asian Buyers Have Pushed Prices Up Amid Seasonal Stockpiling Thermal-coal prices may be running out of steam as Asian power producers wind down purchases after a period of prewinter stockpiling and an underlying supply glut reasserts itself. Prices of the power-generation fuel have rallied to multimonth highs in China and Australia, two countries that dominate coal supply-demand fundamentals, mirroring moves seen with iron ore.
KOREA
South Korean power utilities 2014 coal procurement to be unchanged on year - Platts The volume of steam coal South Korea's five thermal power utilities are expected to procure next year will be unchanged from the forecast imports of 78 million mt this year, a utility source said.
USA
Four Proposed Coal Export Terminals Have Now Failed This Year Due To 'Diminished' Market As coal continues to decline in the U.S., plans to export it to overseas markets are going south. On Tuesday, the Port of Corpus Christi announced that it was ditching plans to build a major coal export terminal there after two years of development, citing a "seriously diminished" international interest in coal. Ambre Energy North America Inc., who entered into the $2.5 million lease in 2011, will pay a one-time fee to cancel it, according to a meeting agenda released today by the Port.
CANADA
Canada Regulators Approve Export Permits for LNG Proposals WSJ Canadian federal regulators on Monday approved four new applications to export liquefied natural gas, including for proposed Pacific Coast terminals backed by Exxon Mobil Corp., BG Group PLC and Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas.
Canada's Labor Shortage Threatens $50 Billion LNG Plans - Energy companies trying to raise almost $50 billion for Canada's first network of natural gas export terminals will face an even more basic challenge: finding the workers to build them.
JAPAN
Japan Utilities Use Record Coal, LNG Following Nuclear Shutdowns Japan's regional power companies burned a record amount of coal and liquefied natural gas for November as they relied on the fossil fuels to make up for lost output from offline nuclear reactors.
INDONESIA
Foreigners bet on coal mining in Indonesia Country's low costs remain a draw amid volatile mining rules
AUSTRALIA
Australia approves coal port near Great Barrier Reef A vast new coal port and "shipping super-highway" near Australia's Great Barrier Reef has environmentalists worried.
$50 billion worth of coal mines risk being 'stranded' As much as $US50 billion of proposed coal mine developments in Australia could be at risk due to changes in China's anticipated demand, with these assets likely to become ''stranded'' if they proceed.
Stranded Down Under? Environment-related factors changing China's demand for coal and what this means for Australian coal assets PDF: http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research/stranded-assets/Stranded%20Down%20Under%20Report.pdf
CHINA
China Imported More Coal Than Any Country In History In 2012, As Projected Global Coal Demand Slows
Asia Coal-Australian coal prices inch up on China winter buying (Reuters) - Australian thermal coal prices rose slightly during the past week, as top consumer China stocked up ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays in February.
China's Pollution Revolution - Could Beijing's coal addiction be its downfall? As temperatures drop in the Chinese mainland, schoolchildren there have become acquainted with their own version of a snow day: The smog day ...