Medium Nut Coal Shortage? Exporting to China?

I spoke with Al at Household Fuel in New Britain yesterday, he said that the Chinese did buy a bunch of anthracite over the summer. I would think the cost is prohibitive to use as fuel there what with it being 3 times the price of bituminous plus shipping from the east cost to China. I would wager a bet that it is being used for water filtration as just about every source of water over there is polluted. I would think that they will continue to make random large purchases in the future for this very reason. Probably not a bad thing, at least we get some of our money back for all the lead and mold we buy from them.

Al didn't have any bulk coal to speak of, he said his elevator is broken down and he can't fill the silos. Kind of odd because the last time I was there about 3 years ago, he had about 300 tons piled in the yard.

What is "medium" nut? Out here in MA we have a choice of sizes but not type of nut.

I called yesterday for a load and was told three weeks for my coal delivery. I am starting to get nervous that they might be waiting for a truck to come that WILL NOT COME. Three weeks puts me right near Christmas. I sure hope I can get coal this year. I cannot afford oil.

Doesn't congress know that Americans rely on Anthracite to heat their homes? Are they not satisfied to take food to make ethanol? Now they need to take our heat away also?

Vin.

Vinmaker wrote:What is "medium" nut? Out here in MA we have a choice of sizes but not type of nut.

Vin.

Vin, the dealers I've worked with in Central PA usually sell two grades of anthracite...red-ash (medium) and white-ash (hard). As the names indicate, medium coal when burned leaves a darker gray or reddish ash, while the harder white-ash leaves more whitish ash.

I believe the medium coal is mostly mined in the southwest portions of the coal region, while the harder coal comes from the more north and eastern region.

Medium nut can burn better in situations like mine--hand fired stove, no forced draft, and a chimney with less draft than most. Medium coal ignites at a lower temperature and requires less draft to burn. I get medium nut because the larger nut size allows more draft through the fire.

I was also told by a dealer who handles Blaschak coal from Mahanoy City that many of their customers who have stoves like mine prefer the Blaschak coal because, while it is hard or white-ash coal, its ignition temp and burning characteristics are better suited for these stoves than Reading anthracite. I have no way of knowing (other than the experts on this board ) if that's true or not, but that's the dealer's observation based on other customers.

I thought I posted this update the other day, but it's not here, so...

On Friday, 12/3, after reviewing the replies to my original post, I decided to call my regular dealer to see if they knew any more about the medium nut shortage.

The woman who runs the office told me they'd just gotten a load of medium nut the evening before, and had several deliveries going out that afternoon. When I reminded her I hadn't gotten my original order, she put me on the list. I made sure to confirm that this coal came from the same source as previous years; she said they got it from their regular supplier, Superior Coal in Hegins, PA. They have another load on order but no definite delivery date.

I paid $247 per ton (up from $217 last year) for two tons of medium nut, plus $15 delivery and $11 for oiling the coal (to keep down the dust). Total delivered, $520.

Not happy with that price jump but at least my bin is full of coal. Maybe this is a sign the supply situation is improving. Good luck to all of you trying to get your coal in before winter. Keep calling and hopefully you'll find what you need soon.

A couple things I've learned from this: From now on, I'm going to keep my bin full (it's sized to hold 5 tons) instead of only buying the two tons or less I need to get through the winter. And, I'll replenish during the summer months when demand and, hopefully, the price are slightly lower--no more waiting until mid-October to order.

You can get the medium (red ash superior) and hard coal(white ash blaschack) from kuntz and sons at 717-566-3418. Call them for pricing confirmation but 2 ton of hard nut was $450.00, i think the medium nut is $430.00. They were good to deal with.

Sharkman, thanks for the info. I made note for early summer when I refill the bin.

I just finished the last of the Blaschak bagged coal and am now into the medium. Blaschak burned better than I expected in my stove--nice hot fire, steady burn, and noticeably less ash than the medium. Might have to go with that next year.