A week in coal: 5 September 2014

The Australian coal industry is “globally uncompetitive” according to Mick Buffier, head of coal operations at Glencore with the strong Australian dollar a key cause for a costs “blow out” from US$70/t to US$170/t between 2006 and 2011. Read more of Buffier’s comments here.

Meanwhile, Joy Global added to the industry blues, reporting disappointing Q3 results. The company blamed its woes on the struggling coal industry and lowered its full year forecast as a result. It made US$119 million in the three months to 1 August compared to US$274 million for the same period in 2013. The full news article can be read here.

Staying with equipment suppliers and there was good news for a small UK company, Conflow, which won a major new contract with Colombian coal miner, CI Milpa, to supply dust suppression systems.

In the power sector, Toshiba announced a contract to supply the 2000 MW Jimah coal-fired power generational project in Malaysia with steam turbines and generators. This will be the fourth major power project in the southeast Asian country that Toshiba has played a role in. Previous projects include the joint construction with IHI of the existing Jimah plant, the Tanjung Bin plant and the Port Dickson Phase 2 project.

Finally, with the ebola outbreak in Central and East Africa still fresh in our minds, the mining industry should carefully consider its crisis management protocols, according to International Research Networks (IRN). IRN will be presenting on the topic at the Mining Security and Crisis Management Forum 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. The full story is here.

Written by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/05092014/world-coal-a-week-in-coal-5-september-2014-coal1293/