by winston » Wed Aug 05, 2015 1:49 pm
Market conditions for coal continue to deteriorate, with coal prices down by 10 percent so far this year.
International coal miners have produced so much coal that prices are at their lowest levels in ten years, as the ongoing glut has depressed the market.
But with an ongoing shift in the U.S. away from coal-fired electricity, as well as softening demand in China, the outlook doesn’t look good.
In fact, China’s coal imports for the first half of 2015 were down by 37.5 percent from the same period a year ago, a jaw-dropping decline that could spread financial distress across the global coal industry if the trend continues.
In a sign of the times, Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal miners in the United States, will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as the Virginia-based producer is unable to emerge from its mountain of debt.
Source: Oil Price Intelligence
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"