Coking coal shortages caused by flooding in Queensland will limit crude steel production in 2011, McCloskey Group md Gerard McCloskey told delegates at the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba in Cape Town.
So far the floods have reduced coking coal supply by around 15 million tonnes, he said. This compares with the 5-6 million tonnes of supply lost during heavy rains in Queensland during 2008.
And, just like 2008, heavy rains could cause more problems for coking coal miners in February, McCloskey continued.
“The rainy season is not by any means over in Australia,” he said.
Miners in Canada, the USA and Mongolia will all export more material in an attempt to plug the gap, McCloseky predicted.
But this material will be lower grade and will not be sufficient to satisfy the deficit.
Follow my news "Good for You". Follow my news "Good for You". Follow my news "Good for You".
The investment into alternative power generating technologies such as nuclear energy may need to be measured against the potential cost when things turn against you as unfortunately happened this year in Japan. Coal prices and coal statistics show developing economies are more likely to increase their investment into & their use of coal mining in coming years because of coal's affordability and ability to quickly meet increasing demands for electricity and steel. www.coalportal.com
ReplyDelete