Chinese coal prices up by 2pct

China's raw coal prices edged up further last week, buoyed up by increased demand from coal consumers for winter use, the Ministry of Commerce was cited as saying.

The demand for the fuel has escalated as coal consumers try to stockpile ahead of a frosty winter. Power plants in South China also accelerated purchasing activity, which gave another push for the price hike. The price of lignite, soft coal and anthracite was up by 2.8%, 1.5% and 1.3% respectively.

Industry sources reported that the price of thermal coal produced in Shanxi province increased by 2.1% at Qinhuangdao port on October 14 compared with a week earlier.

Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index, or BSPI gained by CNY 10 to CNY 842 compared with the previous week. The weekly gauge tracks power-station coal prices at six major Chinese ports.

(Source: www.steelhome.cn/en)
China steel information centre and industry database

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Zimbabwe Hwange Colliery plans to ship coal through Maputo

Bloomberg cited Mr Oliver Maponga Business Development Manager as saying that Hwange Colliery Ltd Zimbabwe largest coal miner plans to ship 30,000 to 50,000 tonnes of coal a month through Mozambique’s port of Maputo.

Mr Maponga said Hwange is in talks with port authorities after starting to use Mozambique central Beira port last year. The company which produces 400,000 tons of coal a month is studying markets in India China and Western Europe.

(Sourced from Reuters)

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Why Baltic index edging higher

Reuters reported that the Baltic Exchange main sea freight index which tracks rates to ship dry commodities inched higher recently although a potential pullback in Chinese iron ore imports would put the put the brakes on a recent rally in the larger capsize market.

Brokers said the market was watching to see if weaker than expected Chinese economic data issued on Tuesday would signal a pullback in raw materials demand which would dent the dry freight market already struggling with a glut of vessels. The overall index rose 4 points to 2,140 points.

Mr Erik Nikolai Staveseth Arctic Securities analyst said "We still think rates in the Capesize segment will remain firm going forward. Imported iron ore prices are on the decline and rapidly coming in competition with lower grade domestic ore which will shift the pendulum towards imports."

Mr Jeffrey Landsberg managing director of dry bulk consultancy Commodore Research said a fall in Chinese s
eel prices this week could put pressure on Capesize rates. He said that "If prices continue to decrease and stockpiles stay high, near term Chinese steel production would remain likely to suffer a decline."

He added that "In addition, Chinese iron ore production has remained robust which is putting pressure on global iron ore prices and Chinese iron ore fixture volumes this week."

The recent dry freight market rally had been driven by firmer coal and iron exports from Australia and Brazil to China which boosted the larger Capesize market. Coal imports into Japan have also picked up. Manufacturing in Australia had been disrupted earlier this year by floods while Japanese industrial raw materials import demand had been affected by an earthquake in March that crippled a nuclear plant and threw Japan economy into disarray.

In August, the overall index which gauges the cost of shipping commodities including iron ore, coal and grain dropped to its lowest in more than three months after falling for 18 consecutive sessions. It has remained erratic and is still over 20% down from the same period last year.

(Sourced from Reuters)

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S Korea WP seeks 260000 tonnes coal for Nov to Dec

Reuters quoted the utility said Korea Western Power Co Ltd is seeking 260,000 tonnes of bituminous coal for arrival between November 15 and December 15 through a spot tender.

The utility said the tender for NCV minimum 5,600 kilocalories per kilogram bituminous coal supply to Taean Power Plant will close at 2 PM on October 20.

(Sourced from Reuters)

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African Minerals to ship iron ore from Tonkolili mine in Sierra Leone by end October

Reuters quoted the London listed metals explorer and developer said African Minerals Ltd will start exporting iron ore cargoes to China and Europe from its Tonkolili mine in Sierra Leone at the end of this month.

The company commenced mining iron ore in Sierra Leone in December 2010 and has since stockpiled material. Iron ore exports will start this month and African Minerals expects to export about 1.2 million tonnes of iron ore during the current fourth quarter.

Mr David Tucker its head of sales and marketing said "We have three cargoes programmed for China and one cargo programmed for Europe. He said that we are selling some trial cargoes, but really the intention is from those trial cargoes to cement long-term off-take agreements with partners."

He said that African Minerals is currently in talks with European Chinese and Asian steelmakers to sign more off take agreements. He added that we are not tied to a specific index but our initial contracts reference the Platts index."

He also said "We are talking about something which is linked to the China CFR price, but the actual pricing mechanism is a bit of secondary importance to us."

Shandong Iron & Steel, the world ninth largest steel group has already agreed to pay USD 1.5 billion for a 25% stake in African Minerals' flagship iron ore project and will take 25% of its production. Mr Mike Jones head of corporate development and investor relations said to go ahead, the deal still requires Chinese government approval, which is expected by December 31.

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Gunvor buys 33pct of US coal mine for USD 400 million

Interfax reported that Gunvor the commodities trader founded by Gennady Timchenko and Torbjorn Tornqvist has acquired a coal asset in the United States.


Pinesdale LLC a unit of Gunvor Group has paid USD 400 million for a one-third interest in the Signal Peak coal mine in Montana, one of the sellers. FirstEnergy will receive USD 260 million of the selling price and the remainder will go to private coal firm Boich.

FirstEnergy and Boich bought Signal Peak in 2008. At the time, FirstEnergy paid USD 125 million for a 45% stake in the project. The deal with Gunvor calls for creating a new corporate entity, Global Mining Holding Company in which the three investors will each own a one-third interest.

Mr Wayne Boich Jr president and chief executive of Boich Companies said "One of the key advantages that Gunvor Group brings to this venture is the ability to utilize their commodity trading relationships in such markets as Japan, China, Korea and Chile to sell more coal."

Mr Timothy Legge Gunvor SA chairman said this is Gunvor first investment in a coal mine in the United States. The trader can ship large amounts of coal through the deepwater port of Vancouver.

Under the deal, FirstEnergy Generation a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp has revised its original coal purchase agreement with Signal Peak to reduce annual purchases from 6.8 million to 1.8 million tonnes. Most of the coal from the mine will now be purchased by Gunvor.

Signal Peak now mines more than 8 million tonnes of thermal coal per year, but this figure is expected to grow to 13.5 million tonnes by 2015.

(Sourced from Interfax)

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Afferro Mining identifies significant iron ore target at Ntem in Cameroon

Shares in Afferro Mining said that it has identified a significant target within its Ntem iron ore permit in south west Cameroon.

Following interpretation of the latest airborne geophysical survey over the property, the company said it has identified a number of prospective targets at Ntem.

The strongest of these displays magnetic properties similar to those of the company projects in Putu in Liberia and Nkout in Cameroon. The target has a strike length of approximately two kilometres and is one kilometer wide.

Afferro said it will undertake a systematic geological exploration program leading to reconnaissance drilling in the first quarter of 2012.

Mr Luis da Silva CEO of Afferro Mining said "This latest interpretation is significant for the company in terms of strengthening our project portfolio and implementing our strategy in Cameroon, where we have already made considerable progress with our Nkout iron ore project.”

He said that “The Ntem project is located 80 kilometres from the coast and close to the same proposed railway infrastructure that the company's Nkout project is expected to use. We look forward to the results of the grab sampling and subsequent reconnaissance drilling in early 2012."

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Bacchus Marsh coal drill exceeds expectations

It is reported that opponents of brown coal exploration near Bacchus Marsh west of Melbourne fear better than expected results will boost the likelihood of mining there.

Mantle Mining reports there is an estimated 1 billion tonnes to 2 billion tonnes of brown coal in the area.

The company says two of its four drill holes around Parwan have coal seams that are more than 50 metres thick which is 25% more than expected.

Ms Kate Tubbs president of the Moorabool Environment Group has told ABC Local Radio that she is determined to stop coal mining on her land. She said "It's quite appalling to think that you do have no rights over your land or your food security or your water security or any part of it and that they can just come in and just take over."

She added that "They are out-of-towners coming to do nasty things to our area if they have their way."

Ms Tubbs says she is not prepared to sell her property. She said that "The funny thing about it is that with all of the value of the so-called good coal that we've got underneath us, that we wouldn't realise a cent of that, and that all that we would be offered in compensation is the market value of our land which is plummeting quickly, with possibly five per cent tacked on top of that."

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Newland Resources delivers maiden 150 million tonnes JORC Resource at Comet Ridge coal project

22 times viewed. Friday, 21 Oct 2011Newland Resources has reached its first major milestone for the Comet Ridge Project area in the Bowen Basin of Queensland with the release of a maiden JORC Resource of 150 million tonnes of coal.

Independent geologists, McElroy Bryan Geological Services prepared the JORC Resource Statement. The Resource has coking coal potential of 50 million tonnes of coal at depths less than 50 metres and subsequent drilling is expected to increase the Resource.

The Resource at the Comet Ridge Project is contained in the Fair Hill Seam and has a cumulative thickness of between 2.5 and 4.0 metres.

Mr Gavin May Newland Resources' managing director said while 150 million tonnes is a significant tonnage, the 50 million tonnes of resource with coking coal potential at depths less than 50 metres is what excites me.

He said that "NRL has a clear focus on delineating economic coal, so future exploration will concentrate on conversion of these resources into mineable reserves.”

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China Guangxi province ranks second for coal imports

Southwest China’s Guangxi province has become one of the country’s largest coal importers, second only to Guangdong province.

Coal imports via the ports of Guangxi province have seen continuous increase in recent years, rising to 16.905 million tonnes in 2010 from 3.4 million tonnes in 2005, at an annual growth rate of 37.8%. Statistics from China General Administration of Customs show that coal imports into Guangxi province totalled 18.758 million tonnes in January through September this year accounting for 15.2% of the country total coal imports during the given period. The imported coal price averaged USD 97.7 per tonne up by 13.8%YoY. The imports of anthracite totalled 9.033 million tonnes, accounting for 48.2% of the province overall coal imports.

Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia are the main suppliers of the fuel, with exports to Guangxi province standing at 8.95 million tonnes, 4.249 million tonnes and 2.831 million tonnes respectively. The combined imports from the three countries occupy 83.5% of the province’s overall imports during January to September.

(Source: www.steelhome.cn/en)
China steel information centre and industry database

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Jameson Resources eyes return to Canadian coal space with project acquisitions

Jameson Resources has exited a voluntary trading suspension after announcing two separate deals to acquire coal assets in northeast British Columbia, Canada likely to be popular with investors.

The company which requested a voluntary suspension from the ASX on Monday has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Dunlevy Energy which holds the Dunlevy coal project located in the Peace River Coalfields.

Jameson will settle the deal with a CAD 51,000 payment to each Dunlevy shareholder totaling USD 153,000 and the issue of 4 million non voting, convertible, redeemable, preferred shares to each shareholder, totaling 12 million. These shares will be exchangeable for fully paid ordinary shares in Jameson on a one for one basis, upon the meeting of certain milestones. Jameson shares were last trading at AUD 0.14 valuing the shares at around AUD 1.68 million.

Meanwhile, Jameson has also entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire certain assets of Nexx Coal including the Graham River, Peace Reach and Carbon East coal projects which are also located in the Peace River Coalfields. Jameson will reimburse Nexx’s licence application fees of CAD 132,700.50 and issue 10 million non-voting, convertible, redeemable, preferred shares. Again, these shares will be exchangeable for fully paid ordinary shares in Jameson on a one-for-one basis, upon the meeting of certain milestones.

1. The assets
The Dunlevy and Nexx projects comprise approximately 46,700 hectares of exploration ground. The projects overlie the north-west extension of the Peace River Coal Fields District of northeast British Columbia. Some of Canada major coking coal and pulverized coal injection coal mines Willow Creek, Brule, Wolverine and Trend are located along strike from the property.

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Fancamp Exploration intersects 30pct Fe at Lac Lamelee South Project

Fancamp Exploration Ltd provide the first assay results from the Company drill program on the 100% owned and previously undrilled Lac Lamelee South Project which is located about 15 kilometers west of ArcelorMittal Fire Lake Mine. The three holes reported cover some 300 metres strike Read More

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China Coal resumes output at two mines halted after deaths

Bloomberg reported that China Coal Energy Co has resumed production at two of five mines that were suspended after flooding killed 10 workers at a site run by its parent.

The company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the mines passed a safety inspection by local authorities in Shanxi province. Three other sites are starting checks.

Xinhua News Agency reported on September 17 that production at the five underground mines was suspended after flooding at a pit run by China National Coal Group Corp the nation second largest coal producer and parent of the listed company killed 10 people.

China Coal said the provincial government ordered a halt pending rectification to underground mines owned by the parent and five underground mines in Shanxi held by the listed unit after the September 16 accident.

China Coal shares have dropped 29% since the accident, compared with a 10% slide in the Hang Seng Index. The suspensions, ordered as power plants prepared to start replenishing coal stockpiles for winter demand for electricity won’t have a material impact on output or the company operations.

There had been 512 coal mine accidents in China as of June, 21% fewer than in the same period in 2010. Shanxi produced 740 million tons of coal last year trailing only the 782 million tons mined by Inner Mongolia, China top producing province.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)

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Coal shortage hits power generation at NTPC Ramagundam unit

It is reported that power generation at NTPC Ramagundam super thermal power project located in Andhra Pradesh has been adversely impacted due to shortage of coal supply from Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.

SCCL miners are agitating in support for separate statehood of Telangana. Of the 2,600-MW of installed capacity at Ramagundam, NTPC plant is able to generate about 1,520 MW from the six units of 2,100 MW. It has shut down the seventh unit of 500 MW from Saturday due to coal shortage as it does not make sense to generate power with low plant load factor.

A spokesperson of NTPC told Business Line that "In spite of making alterative arrangements from Mahanadi Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields and from mines in Chhattisgarh and Orissa and making other alternative arrangements from Coal India Ltd, we are able to generate only about 1,520 MW today."

As against average requirement of about 36,000 tonnes per day, NTPC now has supplies for about 18,000 tonnes.

The power generated from NTPC Ramagundam is supplied as per the allocation made to various southern States. Accordingly Andhra Pradesh gets about 31.5%, Tamil Nadu 25%, Karnataka 19%, Kerala 15%, Puducherry and Goa about 5% respectively.

(Sourced from www.thehindubusinessline.com)

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Composition of Metso nomination board

13 times viewed. Tuesday, 04 Oct 2011Metso Annual General Meeting decided on March 30, 2011 to establish a Nomination Board to prepare proposals on members of the Board of Directors and their remuneration for the next Annual General Meeting which is planned to be held on March 29, 2012. The representatives of the four largest shareholders registered in Metso shareholder register as of October 1, 2011 are elected to the Nomination Board along with the Chairman of the Board of Directors Jukka Viinanen as an expert member.

According to the shareholders register, Metso Corporation four largest shareholders on October 1, 2011 were:
1. Solidium Oy
2. Cevian Capital II Master Fund LP
3. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company
4. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company
These shareholders have named the following persons as their representatives for Metso's Nomination Board:
1. Kari Järvinen, Managing Director
2. Lars Förberg, Managing Partner
3. Harri Sailas, President and CEO
4. Matti Vuoria, Managing Director, President and CEO
Mr Kari Järvinen has been elected the Chairman of the Nomination Board.

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