[tedwitt]

Vey nice call

[creede]

Me either. Rrufff might know, because he certainly made a great call on this one.

[tedwitt]

Nice to see you as well. Have not kept up with coal prices as of late. If IGCC ever became really economical then coal would steadly climb for 5 - 10 years.

[creede]

Hey Ted, good to see you.

[tedwitt]

Buying on the Canadian is a different world than buying on the US.

I usually buy a stock on the Canadian. Bought a lot of stocks up there for the exchange rate.

[creede]

Ah, thanks for the info.

[rrufff]

It took a dive - profit taking, so better if you are buying. Most of the brokers online require you to buy it with the pink ticker HLSRF.pk. However, that one doesn't display accurate quotes. So, you have to get a quote on HLB.to and convert that to US and enter that. It's then routed to the Canadian MM, through the broker's international desk.

If you go to stockhouse.com, you can convert currencies right on the summary page.

[creede]

Well said.

What I am fuzzy about is which ticker to buy T.HLB or HLSRF.pk.

[rrufff]

Much easier to take positions in full reporting plays these days where you can at least come to logical opinions with respect to value. Unfortunately, most of IHub prefers the penny and sub-penny plays, and those are fun if you know how to minimize risk.

[creede]

Wow. Haven't seen you this bullish in a long time. I may have to take a dip.

[rrufff]

There are about 20 posts over on stockhouse.com debating the merits of a HLB.to = HLSRF.pk vs a couple of other juniors WTN and GCE. Bottom line is that these two have already made 8-9 baggers from lows while HLB is "only" up about 2.5 x lows. The arguments come down to higher trend in spot market prices will gradually translate into higher contract prices. HLB has low fixed costs compared to the others. The other two should continue to run, but HLB should get discovered and could have an explosive run from here, particularly after profit-taking on Friday.

[creede]

Very nice move.

[rrufff]

HLB.to=HLSRF.pk - hit new 52 wk high .90 before profit taking down to .81 today. There are a lot of very informative posts over on stockhouse.com. Particularly interesting are some comparisons with other Canadian coal Juniors which have had very big multi-bagger gains and arguing for a share price of $2.50 or even higher for HLB.

Some of the comments discuss its favorable cost structure, port facilities, reserve & prospects, Canadian dollar, etc.

[creede]

Excellent call, rrufff. Big congrats.

[rrufff]

HLB.to = HLSRF.pk hitting another double digit rise today to .84C high - now about .81C. Take a look at the long term chart and see where it was and how fast it moves now that it finally has some volume.

Coal is catching up with oil with a vengence, with the headlines in China and Australia and Africa compounding the demand and now, it seems, our microcaps juniors are being discovered.

Look for it to test $1 and then run from there. Multi year high is about $2.

[rrufff]

Feb 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Peter Frost Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

Thousands of tons of black, sooty coal poured off long conveyor belts into holding bays on two large coal vessels docked at the pier of Newport News' Dominion Terminal Associates on Friday.

Standing beside his white pickup truck covered in sludge, safety supervisor David Hofe -- who's worked at the terminal for more than 15 years -- paused, staring at the spectacle. It's the first time he's seen two ships being loaded side-by-side in a long time.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "It's just something we haven't seen for years."

The combination of favorable economic and global supply-chain factors has Hampton Roads coal exporters scrambling to boost capacities to meet a skyrocketing demand for American coal.

A weak dollar, growing demand from developing countries like China and India and various supply problems in other coal-producing countries are pushing a resurgence in the coal industry not seen for nearly a decade.

Coal shipments though the port of Hampton Roads could rise more than 50 percent in 2008 to between 42 million and 45 million tons. That's up from about 28 million tons in 2007, said David F. Host, president of T. Parker Host Inc., a shipping agent based in Norfolk.

"It's crazy," Host said. "I've seen perfect storms, but this is the ultimate perfect storm. I mean, seriously."

The region's three coal terminals, two railways and a handful of companies on the periphery are adding workers, re-tuning idle equipment and paying hours upon hours of overtime to try to keep up with the surge, which many say could last two to three years.

At Dominion Terminal Associates, coal volume through the terminal could surpass 15 million tons this year, more than double what it moved in 2007, said president Charles Brinley. The group plans to boost its 60-person work force by eight to 10 new employees. In the meantime, Brinley said, terminal operations are running about 40 percent on overtime hours.

The region's two other terminals, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners Pier IX terminal in Newport News and Norfolk Southern Corp.'s Pier 6 at Lamberts Point in Norfolk, also are considering adding new staff as the coal surge continues.

Norfolk Southern's exports rose 25 percent in 2007 and the company expects "continued strong export volume," said Robin C. Chapman, public relations manager.

Coal shipments from Hampton Roads have averaged in the low- to mid-20 million tons range for the past seven years, down from a high of 65.5 million tons in 1991, Host said. Much of the coal shipped out of terminals here is metallurgical coal, used in making steel. The smaller but rapidly growing portion is "steam grade" coal, the type burned to generate electricity at power plants

Since that 1991 peak, the terminals have laid off coal workers, scaled back maintenance schedules on equipment with more downtime and mothballed some equipment and facilities. Now, with demand for U.S. coal projected to be strong for at least a couple of years, they're racing against the clock to return operating levels to where they were nearly two decades ago.

While demand for coal hasn't dipped much in the last 20 years, the business remains highly cyclical. Much of that is due to fluctuations in global currencies, which changes the bottom-line price of the commodity in different countries. When the dollar weakens, foreign buyers can get U.S. coal at a much cheaper rate because of more favorable exchange rates.

"But that's only one part of the picture," said Thomas Hoffman, a senior vice president with Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy Inc., one the nation's largest coal producers. "It's really a global phenomenon. A number of things have come together in the last 12 to 18 months and it really starts with China and India."

While Europe has long imported large amounts of coal to fire its power plants, it has only been a spot player in the U.S. market because it could get the fossil fuel cheaper from around the globe, including China, Australia, South Africa and South America. In other words, Europe only looked to the U.S. if there were problems elsewhere.

China has made a sharp turn from a net exporter to a net importer as its rapidly growing economy developed the need for steel to build and new power plants for electricity, and it dried up as a source. At the same time, it began taking coal from Australia, pushing up prices and putting pressure on Australia's limited infrastructure.

Meanwhile, supply in Colombia is "sold out," Brazil is "using more of its own coal than ever" and Venezuela is too unstable to be a reliable supplier, Host said.

Add to the picture a severe flooding incident in Australia that roiled its supply and power shortages in South Africa that shut down mines, "and you've got all these overseas buyers coming here asking us how many tons do we have to sell. It's no longer 'What's your price?' It's 'How much do you have?'" Host said.

For the Port of Hampton Roads -- the largest coal port in the U.S. -- the outcome is simple.

"We're just hugely busier," said Dominion president Brinley. "We're just trying to keep up."

[rrufff]

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Coal rose to a record in Asia and also advanced in Europe as floods in Australia and snow storms in China restricted output, spurring generators to secure supply.
Anglo American Plc today said operations have resumed at five South African mines shut Jan. 25 because of power shortages. Coal prices at Australia's Newcastle port, a benchmark for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, jumped 3.9 percent to a record $93.35 a metric ton in the week ended Jan. 25, according to globalCOAL. European coal advanced to a two-week high.

``It's difficult to see in the next 18 months to two years who would have the capacity to significantly increase supply,'' Graham Chapman, managing director at Richmond, U.K.- based consultant Energy Edge Ltd., said by telephone today.

In Australia, the world's biggest coal exporter, Macarthur Coal Ltd. and Wesfarmers Ltd. said they wouldn't be able to meet contract supplies from some mines in Queensland state after heavy rain. China ordered domestic coal shippers to halt exports after heavy snow and rail congestion shut supplies to 5 percent of the country's coal-fired generators.

Coal for delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp with settlement from April through to the end of June gained 75 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $124.50 a metric ton as of 12:13 p.m. in London, according to ICAP Plc prices. That's the highest since Jan. 10.

Weglokoks SA, Poland's largest coal exporter, said today it has no supply available to sell to clients without existing contracts. Poland was the 10th-largest exporter of coal used in power plants in 2006.

Indonesian Supply

PT Bumi Resources, Asia's third-largest coal producer, and smaller rival PT Berau Coal today said they can't increase production because of government commitments and a lack of equipment.

Taiwan Power Co., the island's biggest electricity producer, said it plans to buy coal in the spot market because of concern China will stop exports. The utility issued a tender last week for about 1 million metric tons of coal and may buy more in the spot market.

``Even before these developments, spot prices for coal and coke were at record high levels,'' Macquarie Group analysts led by Jim Lennon said in a report. ``Current price negotiations for annual contracts could be settled at much higher levels than previously thought.''

Xstrata Plc, Rio Tinto Ltd. and PT Bumi Resources will seek higher contract prices for 2008, with Australian coal likely to fetch more than $100 a ton at loading ports, compared with $55.65 a ton in 2007, Christine Salim, an analyst at Samuel Sekuritas in Jakarta, said in a note to clients today. The global average may be $80 a ton this year, and $90 a ton in 2009.

European Coal

European coal prices increased 87 percent in the past year as utilities from Germany's E.ON AG to Enel SpA in Italy sought an alternative to increasingly expensive oil and gas, and India stepped up imports from South Africa. Rising prices in Europe and Asia bolstered a U.S. market that hasn't been linked to the international coal trade for two decades, because the country produces enough to meet domestic use.

``If these problems linger, there's going to be significant pressure on a market that was already robust,'' Stephen Leer, chief executive officer of Arch Coal Inc., the second-largest U.S. producer, said in a Jan. 25 interview from St. Louis.

The other primary coal-exporting countries, Indonesia and Colombia, are already at or near capacity and may struggle to boost supplies, he said.

Export Markets

``Our ports are a little congested, but we still have wiggle room to sell into export markets,'' Leer said.

Coal for delivery to Big Sandy Barge, a benchmark for the Eastern U.S., jumped $3.50, or 5.8 percent, to $63.50 a ton in spot trading last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Eastern coal gained 61 percent in the past year. In the West, at Wyoming's Powder River Basin, coal rose 33 percent to $12 a ton, according to Bloomberg data.

Consol Energy Inc. plans to open a terminal later this week in Baltimore that was forced to halt shipments when a portion of a pier collapsed about four weeks ago. Consol's port can handle about 15 million tons a year, more than twice the company's exports in 2006.

U.S. exports may climb to 75 million tons this year from 50 million in 2006, Jeremy Sussman, an analyst at Natixis Bleichroeder in New York, said in an interview.

The biggest U.S. producers are scheduled to report fourth- quarter earnings this week. Analysts forecast greater profits at three of the top four producers, because of higher prices and increasing demand internationally.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at [e-mail] .

Last Updated: January 28, 2008 07:46 EST

[creede]

Rrufff, very impressive work in such a fickle market.

Detailed Quote for Hillsborough (T.HLB)
$ 0.60 0.07 (+13.21%) Volume: 840.95 k 3:55 PM EST Jan 28, 2008

[rrufff]

Posted by: up-down
In reply to: rrufff who wrote msg# 1208 Date:1/28/2008 12:32:34 PM
Post #of 1213

China Has a Power Shortage; South Africa Has a Power Shortage

POSTED: Monday, January 28, 2008

FROM BLOG: Fund my Mutual Fund - High quality analysis of growth stock investing, focusing on top 50-60 stocks in the market.

The following blog post is from an independent writer and is not connected with Reuters News. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com.

I talk about our coming World of Shortages (tm) :) each and every week. More and more evidence comes to the forefront, no matter what commodity we discuss. You can click here for all my posts about inflation which is essentially the other side of worldwide shortages.... we just have more and more evidence from a story here, and a story there. Once you begin adding up all these mole hills, eventually you have the mountain. Maybe this was why the coal stocks were so buoyant last week.

China Feels New Year Chill as Coal Shortage Bites

China is experiencing an acute power shortage with a nationwide electricity shortfall at 70 gigawatts, the equivalent of almost Britain’s entire generating capacity.

State media has described the crisis as China’s worst-ever power shortage. With coal prices soaring and supplies disrupted by some of the most severe winter weather in years, it is certainly the most acute since 2004 when demand outstripped supply by 40 gigawatts.

A rush for individual generators and to buy diesel to fuel them sent state firms into the international markets, provoking a spurt in crude oil prices.

So worried is the government that on Friday it put in place a two-month ban on coal exports. (leaving more for our producers to fill the gap... bingo)

The coal shortages have forced the five biggest electricity producers to close 90 power stations - with a combined capacity of more than 20,000 megawatts - in northern and central China. Coal stockpiles at the plants have dropped below the "caution mark" of three days' requirements.

The shortage could not have come at a worse time for the ruling Communist Party. The leadership is anxious to ensure plentiful supplies of power for the most important holiday of the year, the Lunar New Year holiday,which begins on February 7, just as rising prices – particularly for food – are fuelling popular discontent.

Chronic winter shortfalls of coal, which fuels 78 per cent of China’s electricity supply, have been aggravated by transport disruptions due to unusually heavy snow across central, eastern and northern China. The unusually icy temperatures have prompted a surge in demand for power as people try to keep warm.

The core problem is that China’s economy is still caught between Marxist central planning and market forces. Domestic prices of coal have been liberalised and rose 14.2 per cent year on year in December while electricity prices rose only 2.1 per cent since these are capped to by the state to curb inflation. Utilities have chafed at caps on electricity rates that prevent them from passing the higher costs for coal on to customers.

That last point, is what I see as a major problem for China. They continue to supress free market pricing in the energy market... which in turn drives demand even higher than it should be, so its a very vicious cycle. Keep prices lower than they should be, and keep driving up demand over "market levels". At some point something breaks. And it breaks badly.

Now on to South Africa...

South African Mines Remain Shut Down Amid Power Shortages

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd., Africa's biggest gold producers, kept their South African mines closed for a second day as an electricity shortage threatened growth in the continent's biggest economy.

Mining companies stopped thousands of workers going down shafts, some of which are more than two miles (3.2 kilometers) deep, after state utility Eskom Holdings Ltd. said it couldn't guarantee a stable electric supply.

Gold and platinum rose to records in London trading yesterday on concern that shortages may result from the mine closures.

Eskom, which supplies 95 percent of South Africa's power, mostly by burning coal, can't meet demand after the government delayed an expansion decision by four years.

Eskom asked 138 industrial customers on Jan. 24 to cut use after heavy rain damaged coal stocks, cutting generation that threatened to destabilize the entire grid, said Andrew Etzinger, a spokesman from Johannesburg-based Eskom.

Talks also have started with coal suppliers about diverting some high-quality coal destined for exports to Eskom plants for blending with the coal normally used. Export-quality coal is more expensive than the coal Eskom typically uses.

The power cuts may shave South African growth by half a percentage point this year, Goolam Ballim, chief economist of Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa's biggest lender, said yesterday.

Since early in the fall, I've mentioned coal as the forgotten commodity - despite all the fuss about how dirty it is, it is driving much of the world's growth. Now we see 2 countries potentially diverting exports to take care of in house emergencies. And in this World of Shortages, I think what we are seeing here is just a preview of what will be coming.

Remember, 2006 marked the first year this globe has ever seen with >50% people living in urban centers as opposed to rural. And each year the global population grows. And each year more move to cities. And we're struggling even at these levels with our global natural resources.

This is why I am saying the most dangerous words ever written: "It is different this time". Inflation is of a global scale and will be derived from a population too large for our world's natural resources. These are long term, structural changes. Eventually (10+ years) technological innovation will come in and alleviate some of the issues, but in the 1-8 year period - I think it's going to be a very hairy situation. I can't forecast past that because I don't know what innovations will come to the forefront... but if they are not meaningful we will have major global crisis. We're just seeing small blips now...

http://tinyurl.com/2fefv6

[rrufff]

Thanks to poster up-down on the Coal board of IHub

Hillsborough Resources Ltd.
1200 W. 73rd Ave.
Suite 925
Vancouver, BC V6P 6G5
Canada

http://www.hillsboroughresources.com

Phone: [phone]

Transfer Agent
Computershare Trust Company of Canada Inc.,
510 Burrard St.
3rd Floor
Vancouver, BC V6C 3B9
Canada

Coal revenue: ($)
24,285,075 (2006)
22,086,973 (2005)
23,395,086 (2004)

Net earnings: (loss) ($)
(5,384,822)(2006)
1,141,024 (2004)
1,811,056 (2004)

The results of 2006 also include the interest
expense related to both the Anglo Coal loan of $4.5 million,
which was outstanding from the end of 2005 through
November 2006, and the capital lease obligation which was
newly established in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The Corporation had long
term financial debt at December 31, 2006 of $2,912,421,
including capital lease obligations, versus $6,664,506 at
December 31, 2005, with the decrease resulting primarily
from the elimination of the Anglo Coal loan of $4.5 million
plus accrued interest as part of the property interest
crystallization.

http://www.hillsboroughresources.com/investor_relations/annual_report.php

-----

OS: 58,434,986
Employee Count (2005/2004): 138 / 83

http://www.stockhouse.com/comp_info.asp?symbol=HLB&table=list


Hillsborough Announces Settlement of Lawsuit 1/17/2008 12:28:18 PM

Hillsborough Announces Increase of Debenture Financing From $7 Million to $10 Million 1/17/2008 12:26:44 PM

The Maybach Review: Has added Hillsborough Resources Ltd. to their watch list 1/17/2008 11:02:17 AM

Hillsborough Announces Q4/08 Sale of 130K Tonnes at US $91 Per Tonne FOB and the Sale of Surplus Equipment for CDN $1.2 Million 1/16/2008 2:59:25 PM

Pinnacle Digest: Major Appointment Sparks Review 1/14/2008 5:25:27 AM

Hillsborough Appoints Vice President Finance-Chief Financial Officer 1/11/2008 12:19:30 PM

Hillsborough Expanding Production at Quinsam Mine as Global Coal Price Heats Up; New Mining at 2 South Starts in December 12/6/2007 12:49:45 PM

Hillsborough Closes $3 Million Equity Private Placement With MinQuest Capital 11/19/2007 2:11:19 PM

Hillsborough Resources Limited: Quinsam Mine Production Update 11/16/2007 3:09:37 PM

----

Hillsborough Resources Limited is a coal mining company that operates the Quinsam underground thermal coal mine in Campbell River, British Columbia serving the local and west-coast U.S. cement industry.

The Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in the Peace River Coal Limited Partnership, which has substantial metallurgical coal properties both in production and start-up and under development near Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. In addition, Hillsborough is reviewing opportunities to develop the proposed Wapiti thermal coal mine in the same region.

The Corporation also holds the Bingay Creek metallurgical coal property located in the Elk Valley region of Southeast British Columbia, and coal bed methane licences on Vancouver Island. It also owns and operates the Middle Point Barge Facility near Campbell River, BC and GH Fuels Limited, which caters to greenhouse operators in British Columbia.

Hillsborough has been a publicly traded company since 1988 and shares of the Corporation are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “HLB”.

-----

January 17, 2008 - Hillsborough Resources Limited (HLB:TSX) is pleased to announce that it has modified and increased its previously-announced debenture financing such that it is now seeking to raise $10,000,000 in unsecured, five year, 10% convertible debentures. Under the terms of the new financing, Salman Partners will act as agent on a best efforts basis while Hillsborough’s largest shareholder, MinQuest Fund 1, LP will commit a lead order of $2 million. As a result, MinQuest Fund 1, LP’s stake in Hillsborough will rise to approximately 15% on a fully diluted basis.

The debentures have a 5 year term and are convertible into common shares of Hillsborough at any time up until maturity at a conversion price of $0.60 per share. After two years, the Corporation has the right, under certain circumstances, to redeem the debentures. The transaction is subject to due diligence and to regulatory approval.

The expected closing date of the transaction is February 13, 2008. Proceeds will be committed to capital equipment at the Quinsam mine and wash plant, as well as to definition drilling and feasibility work at 7 South and Quinsam North projects. Cash commitments at Hillsborough’s Peace River Coal Partnership will also be addressed.

The above financing will enable Hillsborough to optimize its operations and to take full advantage of current coal prices which are unprecedented in the Company’s history.

----

Looking into the Hillsborough Resources Limited (TSX:HLB), performance for yesterday January 17, 2008 we can notice that the Canadian Market reacted to the lawsuit settlement. By late afternoon on January 17, 2008 the stock was up 7 percent on higher average volume.

An agreement with the plaintiffs in an Alberta-bench lawsuit lodged in 2004 against the Hillsborough Resources Limited Hillsborough Resources Limited claiming an amount of $21,000,000 as announced on January 17, 2008 by Hillsborough Resources Limited (TSX:HLB), The lawsuit arose as a result of a failed business transaction between the two parties.

Settlement terms are as follows: - Cash payment of approximately $78,000 covering certain equipment acquired by Hillsborough under the terms of the original agreement, and - Delivery from escrow of 100,000 common shares in the capital of the Corporation The balance of the escrowed Hillsborough shares numbering 582,680 shares, will be returned to the Corporation for cancellation.

Hillsborough Resources Limited is a coal mining company that operates the Quinsam underground thermal coal mine in Campbell River, British Columbia, serving the local and west-coast U.S. cement industry. The Company is a limited partner in the Peace River Coal Limited Partnership, which has substantial metallurgical coal properties both in production start-up and under development near Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. In addition, the Company is developing the proposed Wapiti thermal coal mine in the same region. Hillsborough also holds the Bingay Creek metallurgical coal property located in the Elk Valley region of southeast British Columbia.

-----

http://www.worldcoal.org

[rrufff]

January 26, 2008
China's power shortage stokes Canadian coal producers
By CP


CALGARY -- China's hunger for energy resources presents a great opportunity for Canadian coal producers, the executive director of the Coal Association of Canada says.

But Canada isn't a big enough producer to put a dent in the emerging superpower's fuel shortage, Allen Wright said yesterday.

"I think it's a good thing for our industry,' Wright said.

But we're not going to be the player that actually turns the situation around if they've got a shortage."

The coldest, snowiest winter in decades has caused power shortages and left millions of Chinese without heating and running water.

Yesterday, the country's Transport Ministry ordered ports to temporarily stop loading coal for exports as China struggles to meet domestic power needs.

State-owned shipper Cosco Holdings Co. Ltd. was hauling about 760,000 tonnes of coal in an emergency shipment.

China's coal markets have been tight in recent years. It exported 16% less coal in 2007 than it did a year earlier, while imports rose 34%.

Vancouver-based coal producer Hillsborough Resources Ltd. (TSX:HLB) signed a deal last week to sell 130,000 tonnes of thermal coal to an Asian generating facility for about $11.8 million.

"I think it's a positive from the point of view that they've found a market for it. I hope they can do more," Wright said in a research note.

There is also massive global demand for metallurgical or coking coal, the type used in steel production.

"Take a look at the demand for steel and that will give you a pretty good indication of what the demand for coking coal is," he said.

Virtually all the coal Fording Canadian Coal Trust (TSX:FDG.UN) is sold to the global steel industry, said Catherine Hart, the company's senior investor relations analyst.

Fording's customers buy coal through long-term contracts, she explained.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose $1.30 to settle at $90.71 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $91.38.

[rrufff]

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Coal rose to a record in Asia and also advanced in Europe as floods in Australia and snow storms in China restricted output, spurring generators to secure supply.

Anglo American Plc today said operations have resumed at five South African mines shut Jan. 25 because of power shortages. Coal prices at Australia's Newcastle port, a benchmark for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, jumped 3.9 percent to a record $93.35 a metric ton in the week ended Jan. 25, according to globalCOAL. European coal advanced to a two-week high.

``It's difficult to see in the next 18 months to two years who would have the capacity to significantly increase supply,'' Graham Chapman, managing director at Richmond, U.K.- based consultant Energy Edge Ltd., said by telephone today.

In Australia, the world's biggest coal exporter, Macarthur Coal Ltd. and Wesfarmers Ltd. said they wouldn't be able to meet contract supplies from some mines in Queensland state after heavy rain. China ordered domestic coal shippers to halt exports after heavy snow and rail congestion shut supplies to 5 percent of the country's coal-fired generators.

Coal for delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp with settlement from April through to the end of June gained 75 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $124.50 a metric ton as of 12:13 p.m. in London, according to ICAP Plc prices. That's the highest since Jan. 10.

Weglokoks SA, Poland's largest coal exporter, said today it has no supply available to sell to clients without existing contracts. Poland was the 10th-largest exporter of coal used in power plants in 2006.

Indonesian Supply

PT Bumi Resources, Asia's third-largest coal producer, and smaller rival PT Berau Coal today said they can't increase production because of government commitments and a lack of equipment.

Taiwan Power Co., the island's biggest electricity producer, said it plans to buy coal in the spot market because of concern China will stop exports. The utility issued a tender last week for about 1 million metric tons of coal and may buy more in the spot market.

``Even before these developments, spot prices for coal and coke were at record high levels,'' Macquarie Group analysts led by Jim Lennon said in a report. ``Current price negotiations for annual contracts could be settled at much higher levels than previously thought.''

Xstrata Plc, Rio Tinto Ltd. and PT Bumi Resources will seek higher contract prices for 2008, with Australian coal likely to fetch more than $100 a ton at loading ports, compared with $55.65 a ton in 2007, Christine Salim, an analyst at Samuel Sekuritas in Jakarta, said in a note to clients today. The global average may be $80 a ton this year, and $90 a ton in 2009.

European Coal

European coal prices increased 87 percent in the past year as utilities from Germany's E.ON AG to Enel SpA in Italy sought an alternative to increasingly expensive oil and gas, and India stepped up imports from South Africa. Rising prices in Europe and Asia bolstered a U.S. market that hasn't been linked to the international coal trade for two decades, because the country produces enough to meet domestic use.

``If these problems linger, there's going to be significant pressure on a market that was already robust,'' Stephen Leer, chief executive officer of Arch Coal Inc., the second-largest U.S. producer, said in a Jan. 25 interview from St. Louis.

The other primary coal-exporting countries, Indonesia and Colombia, are already at or near capacity and may struggle to boost supplies, he said.

Export Markets

``Our ports are a little congested, but we still have wiggle room to sell into export markets,'' Leer said.

Coal for delivery to Big Sandy Barge, a benchmark for the Eastern U.S., jumped $3.50, or 5.8 percent, to $63.50 a ton in spot trading last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Eastern coal gained 61 percent in the past year. In the West, at Wyoming's Powder River Basin, coal rose 33 percent to $12 a ton, according to Bloomberg data.

Consol Energy Inc. plans to open a terminal later this week in Baltimore that was forced to halt shipments when a portion of a pier collapsed about four weeks ago. Consol's port can handle about 15 million tons a year, more than twice the company's exports in 2006.

U.S. exports may climb to 75 million tons this year from 50 million in 2006, Jeremy Sussman, an analyst at Natixis Bleichroeder in New York, said in an interview.

The biggest U.S. producers are scheduled to report fourth- quarter earnings this week. Analysts forecast greater profits at three of the top four producers, because of higher prices and increasing demand internationally.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at [e-mail] .

Last Updated: January 28, 2008 07:46 EST

[rrufff]

Thanks - nice today hit a high of .62C, closed at .60

[creede]

And like magic she responds. Nice call, and thanks for the headsup.

0.53 0.02 (+3.92%) Volume: 262.1 k 3:20 PM EST Jan 25, 2008

[rrufff]

Haven't posted here in a long while. Coal has been a tough play but it's starting to pick up some followers. This past week, there have been media stories about shortages of coal in China, India and South Africa, the latter of which caused mines to shut down.

So, the price of coal should finally start catching up with oil.

I've been picking up some of this, as well as natural gas play ASPN and O&G FPP.

[creede]

LOL

You think the Chinese will be buying all that coal to keep the garage warm for their new Ferrari?

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=8740

[rrufff]

Lots of predictions that coal will be "hot" LOL over the next year. With oil at highs and likely to climb, there is more attention being paid to coal. I've seen some claims that China will buy up tons.

[creede]

Think this is a reversal, or that the downtrend will continue?

[creede]

Oh, I see what you are saying. You cannot trust the quotes because they are often just so old. Makes sense now.

So you go to stockhouse? I took a quick look at it. It's a little more along the lines of SI and IHUB, except you cannot do the graphics and stuff. Do you have to pay anything there?