Coal

A U.S. Judge on Friday rejected in large part a request from top asset managers, including BlackRock, to dismiss a suit filed by Texas and twelve other Republican-led States that claimed the companies had violated antitrust laws through climate activism which reduced coal production and increased energy prices. U.S. district judge Jeremy Kernodle, in Tyler, Texas, agreed to dismiss only three of the 21 count in the states' suit, which also names institutional investors State Street, Vanguard, and others. This is one of the most high-profile lawsuits aimed at promoting environmental, social, and governance goals. Requests for comment from the...

Teck Resources, a Canadian mining company, beat its second-quarter profit expectations on Thursday thanks to improved profitability at the Trail operation. According to Teck's website, the Trail operations in British Columbia are one of the largest fully integrated zinc-lead smelting, refining and reprocessing complexes in the world. According to LSEG, the company reported a profit adjusted of 38 Canadian Cents per Share for the quarter ending June 30. This compares with an average analyst estimate of 27 Canadian Cents per Share. Teck reported that London Metal Exchange (LME), copper prices fell by 2% during the second quarter of 2012 compared...

Teck Resources, a Canadian mining company, announced on Thursday that it had approved a project to extend the life of its Highland Valley Copper Mine in British Columbia. This will allow Canada's biggest copper mine to continue operating until 2046. Highland Valley Copper Mine Life Extension Project is expected to support an average copper production rate of 132,000 metric tons per year for the lifetime of the mine. The company stated this in a press release. Jonathan Price, CEO of the company, said: "This extension is fundamental to our strategy of doubling copper production in the next decade." The project...

The committee announced on Friday that former Australian PM Scott Morrison would testify on Wednesday at an U.S. House hearing about China's "economic pressure against democracies". Rahm Emanuel, the former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, will also appear before the House Select Committee on China. The already rocky relations with China, which were exacerbated after Australia banned Huawei's 5G network in 2018. Canberra demanded an independent investigation of the origins COVID-19. China responded to the United States by imposing tariffs and limiting imports of Australian products, such as wine, barley, and beef. The United States called this "economic coercion." Morrison lost...

Executive Orders to Boost the Coal Industry Trump Administration pulls back plants from retirement The United States has ceased its efforts to reduce coal consumption By Carey L. Biron Then, the Trump administration issued an order to keep the plant operating, citing a regional energy crisis caused, in part by the retirements of coal and natural gas power plants. Trump issued executive orders to boost the coal industry. These were in response to the rapidly increasing electricity demand for new data centres that run artificial intelligence tools. The rebound is a resupply of coal for the JH Campbell plant, located...

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it had approved a coal mine proposal in Claiborne County Tennessee under a process expedited to speed up federal environmental reviews for energy projects. The Department of the Interior announced in a press release that it had granted Hurricane Creek Mining LLC approval to mine coal at Bryson mountain, located in Claiborne County Tennessee. The agency stated that the mine would produce up to 1 million tons of coal in the next decade. The site has been mined in various periods between 1950 and 2010. The rush permit aligns with the goal of...

AGL Energy announced on Friday that it has acquired South Australia's Virtual Power Plant from Tesla. The Australian power retailer is looking to increase its battery storage to help drive the green energy transition. AGL is aiming to achieve zero net carbon emissions in 2035 by implementing grid-scale storage projects of 1.4 gigawatts. AGL will be able to access residential solar and battery system networks consisting of approximately 7,000 Powerwall batteries. More are expected to be installed in this year. SAVPP is an extensive network of Powerwall and solar home battery systems installed in South Australian community and social housing....

The latest version of Donald Trump's proposed tax bill includes a reduction in the price of coal used to produce steel. This subsidy could amount to hundreds of millions over a period of 10 years, for a fuel which is mainly exported to China. In April, Trump issued executive orders directing Chris Wright, former CEO of fracking and energy secretary, to determine if metallurgical coal, or met coal, is a critical mineral. Wright did so in May. The latest version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, released by the Senate over the weekend, allows met coal to claim a tax...

The U.S. coal company Peabody Energy has extended a lockout in one of its New South Wales mining operations, the Mining and Energy Union said Thursday. This follows a protest by its workers who demanded better wages and job security. According to the union, Peabody informed MEU members that the lockout of the Helensburgh underground mine would continue until July 6. The union stated that the workers had been locked out and without pay since 18 June. It also urged the Federal Government for a change in workplace laws which allow employers to take excessively "disproportionate" or "punitive actions" against...

We Energies is a subsidiary of WEC Energy and plans to extend the operation of units 7 & 8 at the Oak Creek Coal-fired Power Plant in Wisconsin until the end of 2026. Now, the plant that was to be retired at the end 2025 will have units to meet the high energy demand. We Energies President Mike Hooper stated that "just this month, National Grid experts raised the alarm about elevated risks of electricity shortages and prices spikes due plant closures and increased energy demand in Upper Midwest." In April, U.S. president Donald Trump signed executive orders to boost...

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday that the legal challenge against California's vehicle emission standards and electric cars, under a federal law on air pollution, should not have been dismissed. In a 7-2 decision, the justices overturned a lower-court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a Valero Energy affiliate and groups from the fuel industry. The lower court concluded that plaintiffs did not have the legal standing required to challenge the 2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to allow California to set its own regulation. The dispute revolved around an exception given to California under former Democratic President Joe...

Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said that it has proposed to repeal Biden administration rules intended to curb carbon dioxide and mercury emissions as well as other air pollutants from power plants. This is in line with a March promise made by the agency. The announcement is part of President Donald Trump's larger efforts to undo environmental regulations that he sees as unnecessary obstacles to industrial development and increased energy production. Zeldin, at EPA's headquarters, said that "EPA has taken an important step in reclaiming sanity, demonstrating we can protect the environment while growing the...

Iron ore is the best performing commodity this year, with a price of over $100 per metric ton. This is despite signs that China's steel industry has been slowing down. The Singapore Exchange's most traded iron ore contract ended Wednesday at $101.71 per ton, down from $102.74 at its previous close. The rolling front-month contracts have traded within a narrow range this year. A high of $107.81 per ton was reached on February 12, and a low $93.35 per ton was achieved on July 1. This stability is due to the fact that China imports 75% of all seaborne volumes....

The Indonesian coal producers find themselves in a difficult situation, as their exports are falling and the demand for fuel from nickel smelters is at an all-time high. This creates a conundrum of growth. Indonesia's largest export is coal, which will generate $30.49 billion by 2024. A decline in revenues would have an adverse effect on Southeast Asia's largest economy, which is heavily dependent on commodities. Lower profit margins and falling share prices point to coal's future woes, which include a reduction in workforce, a slowdown in production, and less money going into government coffers, at a time that President...

China's June industrial output data and commodity imports have produced contrasting figures that make it difficult to get an accurate read on the second largest economy in the world. Iron ore imports and steel production appear to be telling contrasting stories. While imports of this key raw material surged to their highest level in the year, the decline in steel production was evident. The first six months of this year saw a 5% increase in coal production compared to 2024. However, thermal power generation - which is mostly coal-fired – dropped by 2.4%. The output of aluminium rose by 3.4%...

China's June industrial output data and commodity imports have produced contrasting figures that make it difficult to get an accurate read on the second largest economy in the world. Iron ore imports and steel production appear to be telling contrasting stories. While imports of this key raw material surged to their highest level in the year, the decline in steel production was evident. The first six months of this year saw a 5% increase in coal production compared to 2024. However, thermal power generation - which is mostly coal-fired – dropped by 2.4%. The output of aluminium rose by 3.4%...

China's crude output of steel in June was down 3.9% from last month and 9.2% from a year ago, as steelmakers maintained equipment amid seasonal demand declines. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the world's biggest steel producer produced 83.18 millions metric tons of raw steel in the last month. This is the lowest monthly level so far this season. Calculations based on data show that the average daily production in June was 2,77 million tonnes, down by 0.7% from May's 2.79 million tonnes. Heavy rains and high temperatures in the east and south regions of the...

The emergence of artificial intelligence and the rising cost of cleaner energy, combined with a new energy plan and the rise in costs for cleaner energy, has brought Japan back into the limelight for LNG producers. Japan, which is the second largest LNG importer in the world, has secured long-term deals with Qatar, and other buyers are also securing such agreements. Japan's LNG exports have been falling for over a decade, as the nuclear power plants that were idled following the Fukushima catastrophe began to operate again and renewable energy sources grew. The AI boom will require enormous power consumption...

China's imports of iron ore are expected to be their highest month in this year in June, a sign of resilience not mirrored by the steel industry's sluggishness. According to analysts LSEG & Kpler, China is expected to import nearly 110 million metric tonnes of this key raw material for steel. Kpler estimates that 109.56 millions tons of cargo will arrive in June, while LSEG predicts 109.1million. It would be an increase of about 11% over May's official imported 98.13 millions tons, and the best month since December's 112,49 million tons which was the second highest on record. Why are...

Sources familiar with the situation said that China shipped at least three cargoes worth of coking coal in May to processors on Indonesia's Sulawesi, invading a market dominated by Australia and Indonesia. China, the world's largest importer of coal for steelmaking, isn't a major exporter. It has only exported the fuel to Indonesia three times since 2024 began, according to monthly Chinese customs statistics. Three sources claim that the state-run Shanxi Coking Coal Group exported coking coal from China to Indonesia in last month. Risun operates one of Indonesia's largest coke-processing facilities in the Sulawesi area. Sources said that the...

An official from a major industry association said that China's coal exports could fall by as much as 100 million metric tonnes in 2025. This could put global benchmark prices, which are already at multi-year-lows, under even more pressure. The world's biggest consumer, producer and importer of fossil fuels increased imports to a new record of 542.7 millions metric tons by 2024 as lower international prices prompted buyers to substitute imported coal for domestic supply. Xuegang Li (Vice President of China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association) told Coaltrans China on Wednesday that imports could drop by between 50 and 100...

China, the largest coal importer in the world, reduced its imports by 18% on an annual basis, according to customs data released Friday. Low-cost domestic coal eroded overseas purchases, while renewables slowed down coal-fired electricity generation. According to the General Administration of Customs, imports were 36.04 millions metric tons for the month, down from 43.82million tons in May 2024. This was the third consecutive month that China's imports of coal fell year-over-year. They had increased previously every month from November 2022. January and February were excluded because they are affected by Lunar New Year holidays. The data shows that coal...

Analysts and traders agree that the prospects for iron ore price are improving due to a smaller than expected global surplus in this year. However, new supply coming from the massive Simandou project, located in Guinea, remains a downside risk on a longer-term basis. More than a dozen analysts and traders interviewed at this week's Singapore International Ferrous Week said that their forecasts of oversupply for this year have been reduced from 50,000,000 tons to between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000 metric tons. The reason is that demand has been resilient this year, thanks to strong steel exports. Buyers stocked up on...

The Ministry of Finance (MOF), on Thursday, reported that Japan's crude oil imports cleared by customs in 2024 fell 7.1% from the previous year, and the value of the imported crude oil dropped 5.7%, to 10.65 trillion Japanese yen ($74.7billion), due to the lower oil price. The preliminary data show that Japan, which is the fourth largest crude buyer in the world, imported 2,32 million barrels of crude oil per day (134,67 million kilolitres), for the period ending March 31. The MOF reported that this was the second consecutive decline in value and volume year-over-year. The volume of Japan's LNG...