World Coal Report - Ed 2 2007

Abstract

Introduction

• Coal is making a come-back
• A relentless increase in world demand for energy, large price increases for natural gas, growing concern about imported energy and security of supply, indecision about nuclear power are all factors which are contributing to the renaissance of coal
• Despite the ' dash for gas' in the last two decades, coal remains the number two source of primary energy
• In 1965 coal accounted for 38.4% of total final energy consumption, by 1999 this had been whittled down to 25.1% but today it has risen to 27.8%
• Production grew 14.3% in the 20 years between 1981 and 2000 but in the last five years it has grown 27.1% in total between 2000 and 2005
• This renaissance is taking place in many countries, but by far the most important driver is escalating demand in China, accompanied by growth in India and by continued strong demand in the USA

Report Scope

• The report provides a global overview of the coal market with production and demand
• The structure of coal rank
• An analysis of the international coal trade - the structure , geographical distribution of international coal production, development of a single coal market and international coal prices in the Atlantic and Pacific markets
• The shipping and freight rates
• The new technologies for coal extraction and the effects on the environment
• Global environmental legislation
• A detailed market review of the 11 key global coal supplying countries and the major coal producing companies

Key Research Findings

• The big international coal mining companies are now rivalling the oil and gas giants in the extent of their energy reserves
• A new coal mining force is entering the global marketplace and moving into the first league on the strength of their vast domestic market, the giant coal producers of China
• A vitally important issue is the development of clean coal technology
• Coal is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, a major emitter of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, mercury and particulate matter (polluting ash and dust)
• Billions of dollars are being invested in the development of technologies to clean emissions, to capture and store carbon and to generate electricity with reduced carbon emissions. The target is zero emissions generation
• In the last 40 years the global coal market has changed radically
• In 1965, the United States was overwhelmingly the largest producer and consumer of coal, accounting for 20% of consumption, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany
• The US share has increased slightly to 22% but the US has moved from first place into second pace quite a long way behind China
• In 1965 China had an 11% share of the global market but this has grown to 36.9% in 2005
• The role of the key exporters was established in the first half of the 1980s
• The main impetus to growth of coal exports came initially from the US and Poland, but Australia and South Africa both expanded their market shares considerably during the 1980s
• More recently Indonesia has become the second largest exporter
• US exports fell under intense price pressure from other suppliers