German coal imports rise in key markets

[FBaggins]

DEMAND for coal in Europe continues to be dampened by the recession, but the import outlook has still improved in key markets, VDKi said. The German Coal Importers’ Association noted that steam coal imports into Germany soared by about 20% to more than 10M tonnes in the first quarter of this year. VDKi explained that the surge had been fuelled by high electricity demand during the long, cold Northern Hemisphere winter and relative price advantages over natural gas. In Germany, as well as in Spain and Poland, more product is being shipped in from overseas to fill the gap left by decreasing domestic coal production. Export sources for German coal requirements saw a marked shift this year, with strike-ridden Colombia overtaken by the US as second-biggest loading country for German clients. South Africa has stopped its market share losses of recent years, increasing its slice of German coal imports to 9% in the first quarter, the association noted.

http://www.fairplay.co.uk/login.aspx?logout=true&reason=logged_out&script_name=secure/display.aspx&articlename=dn0020130610000011

A long cold winter with a record low number of sunny hours IIRC.

[Nihil]

1. And that will sink slowly past the perception of so many people ...

... who have set their filters to block any news of increasing coal consumption ...

[FBaggins]

2. I'm not so sure...

... that it's "slowly"... (or that it's "sinking" rather than shoved)

[phantom power]

3. "price advantages over natural gas"

I wonder if our tombstone should say something like "Coal was cheap"