Coal Market Research Articles

Coal pricing mechanism of some countries in the world and lessons learned for Vietnam national Coal – Mineral industries holding corporation limited

As one of the two largest coal production and trading units in Vietnam, Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) is still operating both under the planning mechanism and the market mechanism. Additionally, in recent years, the group's coal price is also being built under these mechanisms. In the context of increasingly deep integration, fluctuating coal price and market, the competition of imported coal is getting more and more fierce, while coal mining conditions are increasingly difficult, the coal production and trading still have many shortcomings, so it is necessary to have a coal price determination mechanism accordance with the actual conditions of the Vietnamese coal market. Therefore, in order to determine the coal price scientifically and in association with practice, the reference to the coal pricing mechanism in some countries around the world to draw lessons for Vinacomin plays an important role. The content of this article mentions the coal pricing mechanism in some countries with a large amount of coal mining and consumption such as China, Australia, Russia, Indonesia,... thereby giving a comprehensive view of the coal price management, operation and construction mechanism of some coal markets in the world and as a reference basis for Vinacomin.

Discussing about innovation of planification at coal mining companies in Vinacomin in the current context

Planification is the first function of management process. It has important role to guide and coordinate the other works of enterprise. Coal mining companies in Vinacomin are big ones, operating in the parent companies – subsidiary companies model, so the planification is more important. But these companies have operated from planification mechanism to market mechanism, so planification of them also has some weakness which be effected by habit or experience from old mechanism. Furthermore now Vietnamese Coal Market have had lots changes. The Government is also having the guide to establish and develop Vietnamese Coal Market. So it is essential to innovate planification of coal mining companies in Vinacomin to be suitable with the current context. The paper use some research methods such as theoretical research method; statistical method,… to clarifi necessity of innovating planification of coal mining companies in Vinacomin; establishing theoretical frame work about innovation planification of companies; guiding to innovate planification of coal mining companies in Vinacomin in the current context.

Impact of basic risks, sanctions and adverse market conditions on the coal industry development in Russia over the period to 2040. Part I: External and internal challenges critical to the coal industry development and its performance scenarios in the post-crisis period

The growth prospects for coal production in Russia are not so clearly evident as it may seem. Today there is a wide range of alternative avenues of advancement for the coal sector, which can be explained by the external and internal challenges critical to the development of the coal industry in Russia. The basic risks potentially capable to cause the most adverse effect on the coal industry performance in the years to come include: the coal market slump in the world; ecological risks; risks due to sanctions imposed by the USA and European Union to restrict import of new technologies and attraction of financial assets; social risks. Aiming to evaluate the impact of these risks on the coal industry performance in the coming years, four look-ahead scenarios are developed: baseline, hazardous (baseline), moderate, and hazardous (moderate). The moderate scenario is found to be more innovative than the baseline scenario. The highest rate of introduction of technological innovations is representative of the technologies with lower level of the predicted output of coal. This study has been partly supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research in the framework of R&D Project No. 18-010-00467 Development of Economic Indicators and Production Data for the Coal Industry Development in Russia up to 2035 with the Changing Vector of Global Technological Innovation due to Implementation of Industry 4.0 Program.

A time–frequency comovement and causality relationship between Bitcoin hashrate and energy commodity markets

This study examines time–frequency relationship between Bitcoin prices and Bitcoin mining based on daily data from January 2013 to October 2018. Bitcoin mining is measured through Bitcoin hashrate, which represents the completion speed of the Bitcoin code. We also include three energy commodities, i.e. oil, coal, and gas in a multivariate model employing time–frequency wavelet extensions in the form of partial and multivariate models. Results of our study suggest that both oil and gas lead Bitcoin returns from mid 2014 till 2016 across 64– 128 days' period. Under the investment period of 64– 256, hashrate and Bitcoin returns share significant comovement in the presence of oil and natural gas however exhibit no comovement when the effect of coal market is considered. Our results of wavelet decomposition suggest that the magnitude of comovement ranging from short- to long-run is time varying. Finally, results of the causality on quantile test suggest that Bitcoin returns cause changes in Bitcoin hashrate mostly during median quantiles with an asymmetric pattern. Our work entail implications for investors in the Bitcoin and energy market and is also helpful in forecasting the pricing behavior of Bitcoin using the hashrate and vice versa.

How the supply and demand of steam coal affect the investment in clean energy industry? Evidence from China

Investment of clean energy industry aims at developing clean alternative energy sources to substitute fossil fuels, the consumption of which leads to climate change and air pollution. However, how the supply and demand of steam coal affect the investment remains an extremely understudied issue, as the extant research focuses on crude oil, while steam coal satisfies most of the energy demand in emerging economies like China. This study empirically investigates the time-varying co-movements between steam coal prices and clean energy stock indices in China at the sectoral level; the former denotes the supply and demand, and the latter represents the investment. Five clean energy sectors are considered, including geothermal power, hydrogen power, nuclear power, solar power and wind power. The studied period is from Jan 2, 2008 to Feb 28, 2019. The analysis is carried out using a VAR-DCC-GARCH framework. The empirical findings indicate the presence of significant bi-directional volatility spillover between the steam coal market and the clean energy stocks. We further portray and explain the dynamic conditional correlation among steam coal prices, clean energy sectoral indices and an environmental under the fluctuating China's stock markets. Based on the empirical evidence, we provide policy implications to facilitate the development of the clean energy industry.

A government approach to address coal overcapacity in China

Coal production in China has direct implications for globally important issues such as sustainable development, climate change, and energy transition. However, coal is prone to recurring, and sometimes extended, periods of overcapacity where production capacity is significantly and persistently larger than actual production or demand. Mainstream economics holds that price signals will clear these markets so that extant overcapacity would exit automatically. However, such a self-clearing process usually takes long time and is full of exiting barriers. In this article, we innovatively use a cobweb model to compare China’s government actions to an optimal strategy that minimizes the cost of cutting capacity, allowing us to evaluate the policies’ effectiveness, speed, and cost efficiency. We find that China’s efforts at curbing coal overcapacity have been effective, timely, and only modestly costly in returning the coal market to a sustainable equilibrium. The strong “visible hand” of China’s government has been an effective mechanism of governance to coordinate collective actions of market participants and avoid the overcapacity trap. By removing 500–800 million tons of coal production capacity permanently, China has decarbonized its energy supply system within a relative short time period, thus making more room for the development of renewable energy.

Prospects for the development of Mongolia’s Coal export

In recent years, Mongolian coal export has grown and gained great importance for the country. The significant resources of high-quality coal and demand for coal in the international market contribute to the augmentation of Mongolian coal export. The expanding coal supplies to the international market affect greatly the development of coal mining in Mongolia. The paper presents the status of coal resources and the characteristics of the most ambitious projects for the development of coal export. The most significant coal development projects are mainly related to the development of deposits in the South Gobi region. Foreign companies that hold licenses for the development of deposits take part in the development of coal deposits. Current and potential future restrictions on the development of coal export are given. The main of them are the lack of access to the seacoast, as Mongolia is a landlocked country; state of transportation infrastructure; the availability of resources for the development of production, and the geopolitical conditions affecting the demand for coal in the world market. Coal exports can be delivered to the international market from the seaports of China and Russia, through the territories of these countries. Further increase in coal export from Mongolia depends on the development of transportation and production infrastructures; the situation in the international coal market; the availability of resources for the development of deposits; and opportunities to increase the volume of exploration. In the future, Mongolia could become one of the world's major coal exporters.

Integrated assessment and obstacle factor diagnosis of China's scientific coal production capacity based on the PSR sustainability framework

The Scientific Coal Production Capacity (SCPC) is an important decision-making basis for the sustainable development of China's coal industry. It is important to objectively measure its evolution characteristics and identify its key impact factors. Based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model and the connotation of SCPC, this paper constructs a comprehensive SCPC evaluation system from the dimensions of resources, technology, safety, environment and benefits. Furthermore, this paper proposes an integrated analysis method to evaluate and identify the evolutionary characteristics and key influencing factors of SCPC from 2000 to 2016. The results show that, a) China's SCPC assessment system reflects the current state of pressure drive, operational state and regulatory response of China's coal overcapacity and its interaction mechanism. b) The integrated assessment method of SCPC can effectively remedy the deviation caused by the method of constant power evaluation and improve the accuracy of the evaluation method and the reliability of the evaluation results. c) China's SCPC tends to improve overall during the period of 2000-2016, but its development is slow. The reason is that the operation state of SCPC and its response mechanism are improved, and the impact of the pressure-driven factors of SCPC still exists and has not be improved. d) The obstacle factors of the pressure-subsystem of SCPC mainly involve coal transportation and carbon mitigation constraints. The obstacle factors of the state-subsystem are mainly coal quality, employee health and asset operation ability, and the obstacle factors of the response-subsystem are market regulation and demand-side response mechanisms. The key to improving China's SCPC in the future is to strengthen the construction of coal transportation channels, achieve clean utilization of coal resources, pay attention to employee health, improve asset operation efficiency and promote coal market reform.

Marketable Product Quality Management in Conditions of Coal Mining at a Deposit of Complicated Structure

Globalization of the energy feedstock market has led to the fact that, in recent decades, parameters of the thermal coal market significantly changed. Depletion of “rich” deposits implies development of new deposits of more complicated structure and characteristics. The paper proposes a new approach to managing quality of marketable products in the course of development of a coal deposit of complicated structure, which has demonstrated its effectiveness in the conditions of the Beisky deposit. The approach to managing quality of the marketable products is based on the concept of the relevance of improving the quality of technological processes and their differentiation according to the criterion of the maximum ratio of value and cost of the products. Typical solutions are proposed, and the results of implementation of the developed methodological approach to managing quality of the marketable products as exemplified by the Vostochno-Beisky open-pit coal mine are presented. Methods of analysis of technological factors governing the selection of parameters of the process operations were used, and the substantiation of the processes for preparation of blocks, excavation, transportation, storage and processing of products in conditions of open pit mining of a coal deposit having complicated structure was performed. The implementation of the developed technological solutions in the conditions of the Vostochno-Beisky open-pit coal mine allowed to obtain positive results, expressed in the growth of quality indicators of the marketable products by 4-6 %.

VALUE INCREASING OF REJECT COAL WITH BIOMASS ADDING AS BIO-COAL BRIQUETTE

Aim: This paper aims to explain the added value increasing method of reject coal which has not utilized by the company. Methodology and Results: The method to increase added value in this study used the agglomeration process of briquettes form that changing composition by adding biomass. The biomass functions to minimize bottom ash produced from burning briquettes so that the briquettes burn entirely. Stages processes in this study consist of characterization, briquetting, physical test, and chemical test. Based on the analysis, reject coal still has a high calorific value of 5,929 cal/gr. Shapes and sizes that were not following needs of coal market or consumer due to reject coal to be a waste. Briquettes have been successfully produced and meet specification requirements based on applicable regulations in Indonesia. Besides physical properties, the briquette meet density requirements which are greater than or equal to 1 gr/cm3 and shatter index value is less than 0.5%. The gas emission test shows below threshold, which is CO 0-30 ppm, H2S 0-3.6 ppm, and NOx is not detected. After evaluation, it showed that by adding 30% biomass, ignition time could be decreased and remaining unburned briquettes or bottom ash was reduced as much as 68.68%. Conclusion, significance and impact study: The bio-coal briquettes is a strategic solution to environmental problems and alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly, because CO and H2S emissions are still below the threshold, even for NOx not detected. Making Bio-coal briquettes as a solution to the utilization of reject coal mining waste to be used as an alternative energy source has been successfully carried out.

Dynamic price discovery in China’s thermal coal future market

ABSTRACT We derive a dynamic price discovery measure by extending Lien's MIS model to a dynamic one with BEKK-GARCH model and analyse the price discovery process of China’s thermal coal future market. Future plays a dominant role in the price discovery process, and its information share is negatively related to turnover and speculation, positively related to transaction fee and margin, suggesting there is speculation in the market.

Time-frequency Connectedness between Coal Market Prices, New Energy Stock Prices and CO2 Emissions Trading Prices in China

This paper aims to examine whether there is inherent dynamic connectedness among coal market prices, new energy stock prices and carbon emission trading (CET) prices in China under time- and frequency-varying perspectives. For this purpose, we apply a novel wavelet method proposed by Aguiar-Conraria et al. (2018). Specifically, utilizing the single wavelet power spectrum, the multiple wavelet coherency, the partial wavelet coherency, also combined with the partial phase difference and the partial wavelet gains, this paper discovers the time-frequency interaction between three markets. The empirical results show that the connectedness between the CET market price and the coal price is frequency-varying and mainly occur in the lower and higher frequency bands, while the connectedness between the CET market price and the new energy stock price mainly happen in the middle and lower frequency bands. In the high-frequency domain, the CET market price is mainly affected by the coal price, while the CET market price is dominated by the new energy stock price in the middle frequency. These uncovered frequency-varying characteristics among these markets in this study could provide several implications. Main participants in these markets, such as polluting industries, governments and financial actors, should pay close attention to the connectedness under different frequencies, in order to realize their goal of the production, the policymaking, and the investment.

Energy Security of Poland and Coal Supply: Price Analysis

Energy security is one of the most intensely debated topics. Majority of papers treat the issue from the hydrocarbon market perspective, but this research focuses on the coal market broken into two specific market segments: heating and electricity production. Using the case of Poland as an example, we conduct a cointegration analysis between the coal and natural gas markets. The study uses monthly data from 2011 until the beginning of 2019. Our results show that the Polish electricity sector is more connected to the international coal market than it is to the natural gas market, while the heating sector, despite using insignificant quantities of imported coal, is more connected to the natural gas market. Hence, energy security—in its price dimension—in those two market segments differs. This situation has important policy implications. First, energy policy should take this difference into account, and second, such variation implies that different market tools should be used in those market segments.

Coal resource and industrial structure nexus in energy-rich area: The case of the contiguous area of Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China

Energy-rich areas often rely on energy resources for economic growth, but ignore structural transformation for sustainable development. Over recent years, the coal market has been depressed, leading to a decrease in economic growth along with a difficult structural transition in the contiguous area of Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (SSIM), which is one of the most important national energy bases in China. To examine whether industrial structure has suffered from coal resource curse and find feasible transformation paths, a panel data model is constructed to analyze coal resource and industrial structure nexus in this contiguous area. The results show that there is a significant U-shape or inverted U-shape relationship between coal resource and industrial structure. Excessive exploitation of coal resource impedes the transformation of industrial structure to a more advanced level and could even deteriorate the rational allocation of resources among industries in energy-rich areas. “Dutch disease” and crowding out capital and technology caused by coal exploitation are the primary channels aggravating the dilemma of industrial structure transformation. Our findings highlight the significance of coordinating energy resource exploitation and industrial structure evolution in energy-rich areas.

Divestment trends in Japan's international coal businesses

Continued investments in coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) and coal mining are incompatible with the Paris Agreement. As a major investor of both upstream coal mining and downstream CFPP construction, Japanese firms play a large role in sustaining the international coal market. Yet since mid-2018 numerous Japanese companies have announced a range of coal divestment policies. This situation, however, has not been unexamined by scholarship. Additionally, divestment literature outside Japan has focused overwhelmingly on financial institutions rather than the roles of other industry players driving the coal market. To address this gap, this paper examines four industries comprising Japan's international coal market (trading companies, electric utilities, plant equipment manufacturers and financial institutions) to empirically assess the extent of divestment behaviour and identify drivers and barriers. The empirical data reveal a slowdown, but not a cessation, of new and existing coal-related investments. Results also show that the extent of divestment trends can be largely explained by commercial factors, although institutional and structural factors are also at play. These findings have important policy implications.

Integration in European coal markets, 1833–1913†

AbstractThis article analyses coal market integration in Europe over the long nineteenth century. The market integration of coal, a key commodity associated with the industrial revolution, is an aspect of European economic history that has received little attention. The literature on the evolution of markets has concentrated on agricultural products, mostly cereals. This article examines intra‐ and international market integration in the principal coal‐producing countries, Britain, Germany, France, and Belgium; and adds three main consuming southern European countries to the analysis of the international market. It provides new evidence on prices, as well as trade, and uses a straightforward approach to address coal price behaviour. Despite shocks, clear trends toward integration in both domestic and international markets can be observed, even if by one of our measures the latter started at a later date. Processes of market integration, however, seemed to slow from the end of the nineteenth century. Explanations are offered as to the causes of the extent and timing of integrations: reductions, mainly, in transportation costs, but also in information costs, and, in the international market, protectionism. The influence of cartels, on the other hand, may have been limited, particularly in the international market.

Extraction and development: fossil fuel production narratives and counternarratives in Colombia

ABSTRACT Colombia, a country that is very vulnerable to climate change, has played a positive role in international climate negotiations. Paradoxically, Colombia is also the sixth largest coal exporter globally, and its government has adopted policies to further increase the country’s production of coal and other fossil fuels. This article explores to what extent the national government reproduces a powerful paradigm – namely, that fossil fuel extraction is necessary for development – and how this resonates at the sub-national level. We find that the government’s narrative has evolved to accommodate Colombia’s changing national circumstances and public criticism. Though counternarratives exist, they have struggled to propose credible nationwide alternatives to extractive-based development, thus reinforcing the belief that extraction-based development is unavoidable. We describe how government narratives constitute an obstacle to both supply-side policies to restrict fossil fuel development and to transitional assistance policies to adjust to shifts in the global coal market. Key policy insights The view that fossil fuel extraction is necessary for development is a powerful barrier to supply – side climate policy. This view also hinders the formulation of transitional assistance policy. Empirical evidence that fossil fuel extraction seldom leads to equitable development is not enough to overcome this view. Narratives on fossil fuel-based development continuously adjust to prevailing economic development paradigms and contemporary development challenges.

Research on coal supply and demand matching process based on carbon emission

The use of coal is an important part of China's energy use and an important source of economic development. Due to the need for sustainable development and environmental protection, the problem of uncoordinated transactions between the two parties in the transaction process has been closely watched by all sectors of society. Based on the current shortage of coal market transactions, this paper designs a coal supply and demand matching process considering carbon emissions from an intermediary perspective, aiming at reducing carbon emissions and improving matching efficiency.

ВЛИЯНИЕ ПАНДЕМИИ COVID-19 НА МИРОВОЙ РЫНОК ЭНЕРГЕТИЧЕСКОГО УГЛЯ

The article highlights the changes in the global thermal coal market associated with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, examines the dynamics of import volumes by key countries - consumers of thermal coal and export volumes by major exporting countries, as well as price changes in the main international markets. Analysis of changes in the global steam coal market caused by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and a number of other objective factors demonstrates a change in the competitive positions of the largest exporting countries, which may have long-term consequences. In addition, the article examines the continuing trend of dividing the thermal coal market into the high-calorie and low-calorie thermal coal markets, which have multidirectional development prospects.

Organizational and methodological support for Ukrainian coal enterprises marketing activity improvement

The tendencies of marketing policy development in some world’s mining countries in the light of global transformational changes are considered. The factors influencing the marketing activity of Ukrainian coal mining enterprises are identified. The volumes and structure of coal consumption in Ukraine are analyzed with a purpose to identify trends of demand volatility and specifics of logistics services for different consumer categories. It is substantiated the expediency of marketing networks formation as a form of partnership relations between different counterparties in the coal market. It is proposed the mechanism of realization of public-private partnership in the management of coalmining enterprises marketing activity based on syndicate form of incorporation. It is improved the methodological approach, which by use of the hierarchy analysis method allows selecting the optimal direction of enterprises organizational culture transformation based on defining 12 the most important criteria and their systematization into 4 groups. An integrated assessment of the level of organizational culture development of coal mining enterprises is made using economic and mathematical tools.