Coal

Customs data revealed that China's coal imports in December rose to a "record monthly high" due to winter stockpiling and rising domestic prices. According to the General Administration of Customs, imports in December reached a monthly record of 58.59?metric tons. This is a sharp rebound from'supply constraints caused by major exporters Indonesia Australia and Russia in November. Buyers stock up on coal in anticipation of the coldest months, when heating demand drives consumption higher. A government index also showed that domestic coal prices rose to nearly a year high by the end of November. This would have led buyers to...

JSW, a state-controlled Polish mining company, warned employees on Friday that they would suffer irreversible consequences should unions not accept a rescue plan which includes cost-cutting in order to ensure government assistance. Union leaders said that the cuts would place 80% of the financial burden onto employees. Talks between the management board, and the unions, on Tuesday, ended in deadlock. JSW management wrote to unions on Friday to explain that a "temporary limit of the level?of labour costs", was intended to help the company return to profitability after financial losses were incurred in 2025 due to a drop in the...

JSW, the owner of Pniowek Coal Mine in southern Poland, announced on Monday that two workers had been killed by an explosion of'methane and rocks masses' at the mine. A large amount of methane has been released from the Pniowek Mine, which was operating with 10 underground workers and a high-performance?roadheader. JSW said that eight people were able to escape on their own while two others lost contact. The company reported that after a seven-hour search, teams located the missing miners, who were declared dead by a doctor on the spot. The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed his condolences...

The state assets minister said on Monday that the Polish coking coal company JSW needed 3 billion zlotys (US$834 million) in liquidity to continue operating next year. JSW, Europe's largest coking coal producer, is impacted by falling prices and rising wages. It has developed a restructuring strategy. Jakub Skopek, an analyst at Erste, estimates that the plan will save millions of zlotys in wages. The state-controlled firm?has already reduced investments?and used almost all of its Rainy Day Fund, which has shrunk in size from 5 billion zlotys by the end of 2022 down to 100 million zlotys around October. JSW...

After two days of discussions in Minsk with?President Alexander Lukashenko, John Coale, the envoy for President Donald Trump was quoted by Belarusian media as saying that the United States will lift sanctions on Belarusian Potash. Belarus did not specify what it would do as a response. Belarus is one of the largest producers of potash - a vital component in fertiliser. Coale was appointed by Trump as his special envoy for Belarus last month. The president has tasked Coale with negotiating the?release of more than 1,000 political prisoner in the former Soviet state, which is close to Russia. Belta, the...

SolGold announced on Friday that it would "recommend to its shareholders, Jiangxi copper?an improved offer?valuing the gold and copper mining company at approximately?842?million pounds? ($1.13 billion) amid a worldwide race for copper assets. Jiangxi Copper has increased its offer to 28 pence per Share, marking the third time that it has proposed to buy SolGold. This is a 7.7% rise from their previous bid of 26 pence per Share which was rejected last month. SolGold, a company based in Ecuador, said that its board will tell shareholders to accept Jiangxi Copper's (JCC) offer if it is firm. JCC's pursuit for...

Grid operator PSE announced that Poland's main capacity market auction was completed on Wednesday. The closing prices ranged between 465.03 and 511.51 Zlotys ($128.74?and $141.61) for a kilowatt of power per year. PGE, Poland's largest state-controlled utility, said it had secured 1,399.218 Megawatts of capacity obligations. This included 1,097.718MW under 15-year contracts. PGE announced earlier that it would be submitting?its planned power plants powered by gas to the auction but didn't disclose the outcome of those specific projects. Energa is another major Polish utility that won contracts with a mix of one-year and 7-year terms. Enea won a total of...

Anglo American shareholders and Teck Resources shareholders approved a merger announced earlier on Tuesday, according to the companies. This paved the way for the creation of a new copper giant, with regulatory approvals remaining the last hurdle. Anglo released a statement saying that more than 99.17% votes were cast in favor by Anglo's London-listed shareholders. For the motion to be passed, a simple majority was needed. Teck shareholders have also passed their approval threshold of two thirds. The new company 'Anglo-Teck' will have its headquarters in Vancouver and its primary listing in London. Teck and Anglo-American announced in September their...

Kosovo's state prosecutor announced on Tuesday that three suspects were charged over a?explosion? last year in a water 'canal' supplying the 'two main' 'power plants of the country. In a press release, the statement said that the suspects had allegedly detonated TNT in the canal. This caused damage to the concrete structure of the canal and cut off drinking water. It also disrupted the cooling system for coal-fired plants. Fears of a possible power outage were raised. The three men were identified by their initials: J.V. D.V. and I.D. They face charges including endangering constitutional order, terroristism, and espionage. Sources...

Boguslaw Olesky, the acting CEO of Polish coal miner JSW, said that an internal survey showed that more than 6,000 workers were interested in the planned reduction in workforce. This is almost twice the number eligible to participate. Oleksy stated that the plan is contingent on a newly enacted mining law and aims to reduce jobs in two ways: "mining leaves", which are state-funded furloughs leading to retirement for more than 3,100 workers; and voluntary severance package for 700 others. JSW is facing a cash crunch. Oleksy said that the stabilization fund of the company was "on its way to...

The Polish coal miner JSW, controlled by the Polish government, reported a net profit of 218.0 million dollars for the third quarter of this year. This is compared to 315.3 million dollars in the same time period last year. The miner has suffered a series of losses in the past quarters as it battles a market with falling coal prices, and a weak demand. This has outpaced the efforts of the company to return to profitability. Why it's important JSW is Europe's leading producer of hard coking coal. JSW is the largest producer of high-quality hard coking coal in the...

Investors said that BHP should focus on its own growth strategy and move away from Anglo American, following the Australian firm's last minute appeal to the London listed company, which is close to a $60 billion deal with Canada's Teck Resources. In recent days, the world's biggest miner contacted Anglo's board to determine if there was any interest in a merger. This was reported by Sunday. BHP announced on Monday that it would not pursue the bid, but instead focus its efforts on growth. The decision to leave comes before the votes of Teck and Anglo shares - scheduled for...

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil lahadalia stated on Thursday that Indonesia could approve a coal production quota "more or less",?600 millions metric tons, in 2026. The nickel quota will be adjusted according to the needs of industry. The output quota will be lower than 790 million tonnes produced last year. However, the actual production of the world's largest thermal coal exporter is often higher than the quota. The government must approve all annual production plans, also known as RKABs, submitted by miners to the country's mineral-rich Indonesia. Bahlil stated that the reduction in quotas was to?support prices of Indonesian...

According to a letter from the Indonesian mining ministry, miners can produce 25 percent of the output they plan for '2026 in the first three months while the government processes the annual production quotas, according to a report by a local media outlet, Bisnis.com, on Monday. To determine?how much production they can produce each year, all miners in Indonesia, which is rich in minerals, are required to submit a RKAB (annual production plan) to the government. Indonesia has reduced the validity of RKABs to one year, starting in 2026. The government has also ordered that miners reapply for the quotas...

A finance ministry official announced?on Friday that Indonesia would issue investment instruments to earn from exporting natural resources. The goal is to ensure exporters follow the rules and keep the foreign currency earnings in the country. The 'new'regulation is intended to increase U.S. Dollar liquidity onshore and stabilize the rupiah rate. It will require that natural resource exporters retain all their foreign currency earnings starting January 1st in state banks for a minimum of a year, and restrict their use. Febrio Kacaribu is a senior official in the Finance Ministry. He told a news conference that new FX bonds will...

Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Indonesia's Finance Minister, said that the country plans to tax coal exports between 1% to 5% in 2019. This is part of a drive to increase revenue for the state. According to data from the mining ministry, Indonesia was a major thermal coal exporter in 2013, with shipments of 555 millions metric tons. This is two-thirds of the total 836 million tonnes of production. Purbaya did not provide any further details on the implementation. He had said that coal export taxes could generate 20 trillion rupiah ($1.2billion) in revenue next year. Gita Mahayarani, executive director of the...

The General Administration of Customs reported on Monday that coal imports from China, the largest buyer in the world, dropped 20% from their record high of the previous year. Imports in November, at 44.05 millions metric tons, were up by 6% compared to 41.74 tons in October. Imports in November of the previous year had reached 54.98 millions tons, a monthly record. The China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association's (CCTD) website reported in late November that although imported coal has a slight price advantage, this arbitrage has decreased as domestic coal prices have fallen. CCTD stated that due to supply...

Indonesia will revoke mine permits if it is found that companies have violated the rules in flood-ravaged Sumatra, said the Energy Minister as questions about deforestation's role in the disaster intensified. According to data from the government, cyclone-induced flooding and landslides in West Sumatra have killed 800 people and left 564 others missing. The cyclones have also caused the deaths of almost 200 people across Malaysia and Thailand. They followed months with deadly weather conditions in Southeast Asia including deadly typhoons that hit Vietnam and the Philippines. Landslides in Indonesia have blocked roads and cut off power, making it difficult...

The top Indonesian official in charge of the program said that the plan to retire coal-fired plants with a capacity of 6.7 gigawatts by 2030 is likely to fail due to the stalled funding from rich nations. The Just Energy Transition Partnership, a coalition of ten donor countries, promised to raise $20 billion for Indonesia in three to five year by 2022. This was once called the "single largest climate finance transaction." The sum was to include funds to retire coal-fired plants that represented 13.5% of Indonesia's total power capacity. Paul Butarbutar (JeTP Indonesia Secretary) said that no one has...

Customs data released on Friday showed that China's imports of coal in October were down 10% from the previous year, due to a holiday which reduced the number working days during the month. Imports will be supported in 2025 by the winter restocking of products during the last two months. Imports in October fell from 46.25 to 41.74 millions metric tons, a drop of almost ten percent. Imports in September reached 46 million metric tonnes, a record high for nine months. Feng Dongbin is vice-general manager of Fenwei Digital Information Technology. He said that imports decreased sequentially, and also from...

The prices of the main grades in seaborne thermal coal have been recovering modestly from their four-year lows. However, the gains come at the expense of volume as major importers reduce demand. According to analysts DBX Commodities, China, India and South Korea are on course for lower coal arrivals in September than October. The prices of the main Australian and Indonesian grades have been rising since early June after a downward trend that began in October 2023. The lower prices in July and August did increase import demand, but the higher prices are now causing buyers to pull back. DBX...

Open Interest (ROI), your indispensable source of global financial commentary, is Open Interest. The prices of seaborne thermal coal have been recovering modestly from their four-year lows in Asia, but this is at the cost of volume as major importers reduce demand. According to analysts DBX Commodities, China, India and South Korea are on course for lower coal arrivals in September than October. The prices of the main Australian and Indonesian grades have been rising since early June after a downward trend that began in October 2023. The lower prices in July and August did increase import demand, but the...

Indonesia announced on Tuesday that it has shortened the validity period of the mining production quotas from three years to one year as of October 3. The government is seeking to control output levels in order to support prices for commodities such as coal and nickel. Mining Minister Bahlil lahadalia had announced the move in July. The ministry stated that quotas issued in 2026 and 2027 will still be valid, but miners must reapply to receive quotas. It added that RKAB proposals - documents used by companies to request the amount of gold they can mine in a given period...

Two sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday said that the sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia has received more commitments for its "Patriot Bond" offering than the 50 trillion rupiah (3 billion dollars) target. The bonds were sold to companies in five- and seven-year tranches at a rate of 2%. This is lower than the 10-year government bond yield, which is around 6%. They will help finance Indonesia's energy programs, including waste-to-energy. One source said that the launch of the bond was originally scheduled for October 1, but it will be delayed. She did not give any details but stated...