Coal prices could fall even further from here

[LiberalArkie]

A villager moves coal at local businessman Sun Meng's small coal depot near a coal mine of the state-owned Longmay Group on the outskirts of Jixi, in Heilongjiang province, China, October 23, 2015.

The coal market is in a dark place. With a 10 percent slide in prices during the last few months of 2015 having this week triggered the bankruptcy of America’s second-largest miner, Arch Coal.

And it appears some of the world’s biggest insiders in the business think the market could go even lower.

That was the message coming out of Japan this week. Where Platts reports that major coal buyer Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) has decided to keep its options open on pricing supply for the coming year.

Sources said that Tepco has opted for floating price contracts with Australian thermal coal suppliers for 2016. A departure from the firm’s usual buying strategy of locking in term contracts at fixed prices.

Snip

http://www.businessinsider.com/coal-prices-could-fall-even-further-from-here-2016-1

[edhopper]

1. There should be no coal market

it is a dirty, polluting fuel that needs to end.

[The2ndWheel]

2. There are markets for things that are illegal

Just because something is dirty and polluting doesn't mean anything. It's pretty valuable stuff.

[edhopper]

6. I know

mankind is suicidal and short sighted.

[The2ndWheel]

8. Short term always beats long term

You can make plans for a big night out at a fancy restaurant at the end of the month, but if you don't eat between the start and end of the month, you won't get to the big dinner. And unless you have the excess resources(which come at the cost of something else), every meal between the start and end will chip away at your ability to get that big dinner.

If we exist on a finite planet, choices always have to be made, and today beats tomorrow.

[edhopper]

9. And if you throw money away on trivial things

or spend $50 a week on cigarettes, which will also kill you, you may never have the money to eat out.

You can also eat out every night, until half way through the month you find that you have no more food money. Or you can budget in a sustainable way to ensure you will always eat.

[ileus]

3. When the coal market actually picks up there won't be any US miners

experienced enough to run the mines needed to mine coal safely and efficiently.

[1939]

7. Agree on the deep mines

Strip mining doesn't require that much knowledge.

[spinbaby]

4. The economic impact is huge

I live in coal country. Between the mines shutting down and the sudden decline in gas drilling, the local economy is already in steep decline.

[karadax]

5. With China being the largest producer and consumer (polluter) of coal

I'm not sure how this will play out.

I'd like to think that China will continue to push (begrudingly) towards cleaner sources of energy.

Developing nations need cheap abundant energy to get their economy off the ground. This helps with that. At least until we see cheaper greener options trickle into these areas.

In the meantime, fossil fuels will continue to dominate and poison our planet regardless of how cheap / expensive they are.