coal shortage? higher prices

Chuck_Steak wrote:

Chuck_Steak wrote:Both Kimmel an Blashack are ~4 weeks out right now.
At least in our area.. and the prices went up...
Dan

And they just went up again....

Dan

How much?

just got my notice today up 10.00per tonne ./// hi eff 95 98 % nat gas is now cheeper than burning coal with no labor just turn up the t stat

jim d wrote:just got my notice today up 10.00per tonne ./// hi eff 95 98 % nat gas is now cheeper than burning coal with no labor just turn up the t stat

But how many people have that setup on NG......... my NG boiler is 15 years old and only about 80 % and remember NG is cheap now only because they have not started compressing and selling it over seas, when that happens ( 1 1/2 to 2 years tops) it will be back to where it was or higher, and also the house will never be as warm as burning coal we feel and notice the difference all the time in the spring and fall

I purchased 3 tons of rice from a local dealer late Oct.2011 and paid 200.00 a ton. I asked where he gets his coal from and he said it was from Jeddho coal. The old Lehigh Coal & Navigation mine has changed owners since it went bankrupt and the new owners are under current regs. The problem is washing the coal and how the wastewater needs to be processed. It is cheaper to mine and not wash, then ship to China. The end of Oct. he was waiting for 2 truckloads of rice and wasn't sure when he was getting it. Matt

I can guarentee any coal going to China is being washed,90 percent of the coal going to china and oversees is #4,,#5,#6 and barley which is all the fines which come out from the processing at the breaker, impossible to achieve these different sizes without running it through a coal breaker, or a washery, all of the leftovers or anything that doesnt meet the ash specifications gets burned in the co-generation plants which can burn material up to a 50 percent ash SCRAPPER

mcall.com
IN SHORT SUPPLY: King Coal makes comeback as fuel supply
Miners can't dig up the low-cost fuel fast enough to satisfy demand.

By Spencer Soper, Of The Morning Call

9:55 PM EST, December 25, 2011

When Peter Kupec was a boy, his mother cooked on a coal stove in the kitchen that heated the whole house.

Now 80, Kupec still uses coal to heat his Lansford home in Pennsylvania's anthracite region, which is estimated to have billions of tons of coal deposits to fuel industry and warm living rooms for centuries.

So he was surprised when he called a dealer a few weeks back to buy two tons of coal.

"They said 'My God, I don't know when we can deliver it,'" Kupec said. "It might be six to eight weeks. There's no coal."

Global demand and renewed popularity for the low-cost fuel have combined to put a strain on Pennsylvania anthracite supplies with a rather surprising result. People in the coal region are having trouble finding fuel for their stoves and furnaces.

Rest of article at http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-allentown-coal-shortage-20111225,0,6042051.story

I just traded my dealer a half ton of stove for rice & he had a good bit of each & was expecting another load of rice bulk. I'm not sure if he gets a tri-axle or a dump trailer of bulk but he didn't say anything about having trouble getting it from Blaschak. He also had one of the new stokers from Hitzer but it was already gone, sold it a couple days after getting it 155k/btu. For his bulk it's still $245/ton.

I may be wrong & I'm sure the Mayor or WN can jump in if I am, but, I don't think there is as much mining done in the dead of winter then at other times???? Also, my local guy has not had a problem quanity wise.

A cold winter will slow and even stop the mines from running. As warm as it has been most are still running. The price of fuel for the machines plays a big part of price jumps in the winter. The fuel prices did not come down this summer that much and a big demand for coal has kept the prices on the upside. Kimmels is in good shape this year, place an order and pick it up in less than a week,maybe only 2 days. Last year they were backed up 6 weeks. If this warm weather stays around the Feb rush may not come to be. At 300.00 a ton coal is still cheaper that anything else ( if your paying for it)

crazy4coal wrote: Kimmels is in good shape this year, place an order and pick it up in less than a week,maybe only 2 days.

That is good to hear. I've been burning their coal all winter and been very pleased. We are only halfway through the winter and I'm already thousands ahead compared to fuel oil.