Coking Coal
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[edit] Coking Coal
When used for many industrial processes, bituminous coal must first be "coked" to remove volatile components. Coking is achieved by heating the coal in the absence of oxygen, which drives off volatile hydrocarbons such as propane, benzene and other aromatic hydrocarbons, and some sulfur gases. This also drives off a considerable amount of the contained water of the bituminous coal.
Coking coal is used in the manufacture of steel, where carbon must be as volatile-free and ash-free as possible.
[edit] General uses
Coking coal is a very important resource. It begins its useful life as bituminous coal, high quality, high in carbon, and very black. This material is then heated in large, airless ovens, where nearly all of the coal?s impurities are burned off. Left behind is a foam-like, hard material made nearly entirely carbon, which is called coke.
Coke is used as fuel in blast furnaces. When burned, it provides consistent, clean heat at very high temperatures. These furnaces are used to turn iron ore into metal.
Coking coal is also necessary ingredient in the production of steel. Steel requires carbon, and since coke is nearly 100% carbon, it works nicely. The impurities that are burned off from the coal during the production of coke are used as well. The gases and vapours are collected to produce refined coal tar, which is used in such things as plastics, explosives, and dyes, as well as chemicals such as ammonia which are used in fertilizers.[1]
[edit] Pricing structure
[edit] Current consumption trends
[edit] Price forecasts
- JP Morgan also raised its forecast for 2008 coking coal prices to $140 a tonne, a 42 per cent jump from last year's agreed price of $98.38. Its previous estimate was $120 a tonne. Australia is the world's second-largest exporter of coal, exporting 257 million tonnes in 2007, mostly from mines operated by Xstrata Plc , BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd.[2]
- Merrill Lynch expects "peak coking coal prices" for the 2008 Japanese financial year, starting April 1, with a forecast premium hard coking coal price of $US300 per tonne.The consensus for 2008 contract prices had been $US197 per tonne, almost $US100 higher than the 2007 contract price of $US98 per tonne.[3]
- Coking coal prices are expected to heat up, says UBS analyst Brian MacArthur, as further flooding in Australia and declining inventories in China weakens global supply of the fossil fuel.[4]
- Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have forecast that coking coal, used to make steel, will be $200 a tonne in 2008, up 104 percent from the agreed price of $98 last year.[5]
[edit] Major producers
The world trade in coal has reached a figure of 718 million tons. Australia is the most dominant country in the world coal market having a 2004 exporting figures of around 220 million tons. World trade in context of coking coal is limited, Australia again bagging the largest share of supply to the market i.e. 51%. USA, Canada and China play an important role as the other major suppliers of coking coal. The major coal exporting countries are-
- Australia (220 million tons)
- China (120 million tons)
- Russia (75 million tons)
- South Africa (68.5 million tons)
- Colombia (49 million tons)
- United states (44 million tons)
- Canada (27 million tons)
- Poland (22 million tons) [6]
[edit] External References
- ↑ http://www.bcminerals.ca/files/bc_mine_information/000136.php
- ↑ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International_Business/%20JP_Morgan_raises_2008_coal_price_forecast_/articleshow/2741981.cms
- ↑ http://news.theage.com.au/coking-coal-prices-soaring-on-supply-woe/20080307-1xsh.html
- ↑ http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2008/03/03/rising-coking-coal-price-should-benefit-teck-fording-later-this-year.aspx
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSSYD2638220080205
- ↑ http://www.crnindia.com/commodity/coal.html
