GLG News by Metallurgical Coal Experts

    The year-to-date and outlook for many of the items transported by the U.S. railroads are down, coal transportation has been positive.  The discussions that follows list some of the positives for the railroads.

    Coal companies have issued force majeure declarations to customers due to various production-related issues.  These are discussed in the section below.

The Albert Ballin consortium, led by Klaus-Michael Kuhne, admitted to Tradewinds that they paid an "extremely high" price for Hapag-Lloyd in an effort to keep the company away from NOL.  The move was based upon Nationalistic emotions, not business metrics.

Declining demand for iron ore, the credit crisis, and gloomy economic forecasts have led to an early decline in dry bulk shipping rates.  For many speculative ship owners, the future is bleak.  This will create opportunities for owners without liquidity problems.

    As the referenced article states, there are many benefits in the Emergency Stabilization Act for the coal industry.  One not discussed is the refund of the coal excise tax.  The commentary section discusses this.

    The Emergency Stabilization Act signed into law on October 3, 2008 includes an extension of tax credits for renewable energy and refined coal.  The discussion that follows includes items to consider regarding the refined coal tax credit.

    The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on February 8, 2009 in favor of the plaintiffs that coal plants could not be removed from the list of mercury sources subject to a Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) standard and the subsequent movements to require EPA to set a...

    The commentary section discusses the current market and outlook for coal railcars

    The fuel-switching from coal to natural gas affects the demand and price for each commodity.  The commentary below discusses what issues are part of the analysis of a utility or merchant fuel buyer on whether to switch fuel sources to fuel power plants.

    Although the year-to-date and outlook for many of the items transported by the U.S. railroads are down, coal transportation has been positive.  The commentary section below discusses the positives of coal transportation for the railroads.