International Trade in Coal

Abstract

permanent geological conditions-the location of coal measures and character of the coals contained. To properly visualize the world's coal trade, we must consider not only countries but also areas, as well as the various factors and conditions entering into the use of coal and its indirect movement after use, in the shape of manufactured products. The great industrial areas of the world have all been built largely upon the nearness and availability of coal supplies, and by far the greater part of the world's export coals comes from the great industrial nations, from the centres of manufacture, where raw materials are turned into manufactured goods into which coal enters as a basic raw material. We have, therefore, an export movement of coal, not only as coal, the raw material, but also as a component part of the manufactured goods exported. Coal in the ground presents certain possibilities; capital, labor and transportation make it commercially effective and valuable. International trade in coal begins at. the mouth of the mine; it may even be said to begin with the original formation of the coal, as the use of any coal in international trade depends upon the geographic location of the coal deposits and the quality of the coal. Nor is the international coal trade directly concerned with returns to capital and labor and their relative value; it pays the market price, regardless of the capital invested or the wages of the miner or the system of mining; it is not concerned with legislation or politics. The market price at the port of shipment is usually the starting point of the export coal trade. Four main elements enter into this price:-the total cost of production and selling, the quality of the coal, the cost of transportation and the return to capital invested. Of these four elements, only the transportation cost is fixed; the others may and do vary, even on similar grades of coal.