Pennsylvania Anthracite Re-emerges on the International Coal

The following article was published on Monday in Coal Age. It seems this forum is always interested in the current and future for Anthracite in NEPA, so enjoy the reading.

http://www.coalage.com/index.php/featur ... scene.html

Excellent article. Very enlightening. Thanks for posting this!!!

The article pretty much sums up the current situation of coal being hard to get.

Good news - production is being ramped up. Bad news - coal won't be getting cheaper.

sounds to me like coal will be harder and harder to come by . if they are getting orders for hundreds of thousands of tons i don't think they are worried about my 6-7 ton . has anyone started to see chinese miners yet ? how long til this happens ?

I had a phone call from a hardware store owner in the Atloona area that sells bulk and bagged coal. He has about 400 customers and can't get coal. He said that his supplier can't get any. It's getting shipped overseas. China will be making steel and sending junk here to sell while the people here go broke paying for oil and gas and freezing. It'a ALL about the Money!

It's often thought of and talked about, but all the small time coal buyers all need to unite and form a group to become a larger buyer and be recognized...as in a co-op. Small orders are becoming too much of a distraction when large orders are becoming plentiful. This has always worked for the coal needs of the Amish Community from many States away from NEPA Coal area.

Perhaps the tide is turning...where as living very close to the NEPA coal area once made small purchases easier...and now, instead, buying outside NEPA coal area from a *bulk* dealer is more so easier.

And if there is NO coal to be found and bought...it doesn't really matter what the price of the coal would of been anyway.

Great article.

Nice to hear that there's billions of tons left at current prices.

I won't be running out of coal anytime soon.

i was at sherman breaker yesterday and picked up 11 ton of nut and stove mix.wanted all nut but he wouldn't sell me that much nut so i took some stove.he said local demand is up and supplies are very tight.he lost over a month of production this fall due to the huge rain events we had.he and his suppliers could not blast due to the drill holes filling with water.he also said that there are 70 new mine permit app's filed with the state for new mines and they are not approving any at this time!!!as always if the goverments would get out of the way the supply would increase to meet demand.he thinks this is a temperary a problem for him and he has been hearing from his suppliers more coal is coming due them being able to produce more raw product.he said the big producers are selling more of there production to the large industral buyers than ever.

This is all very interesting... Another article was brought to my attention this morning from a forum member here, it is a headline today in The Reading Eagle Newspaper, basically says the same things, but also gets the perspective from a long standing Berks County based coal yard owner...

After reading all of this I phoned my coal guy right down the road and asked what their situation is? She informed me that they will have no trouble whatsoever getting coal and keeping their 100 ton of each variety stockpiles filled up... This outfit has been in the coal business since 1932 and has always purchased from Blaschak, apparently a good enough business relationship to allow their trucks to get loaded, perhaps before others even? But, the catch is this, the price has increased $ 20.00 per ton to the end user!!! I ordered and took delivery of 4 tons of oiled Blaschak rice coal on 11-2-11, at that time my total coast was $ 920.00 delivered/ $230 per ton... I went ahead and ordered another 2 tons to be delivered tomorrow @ $ 255.00 per ton Blaschak oiled rice... I know the math doesn't work there, so understand that there is a $5.00 per ton discount when purchasing 3 tons and above, so on my 2 ton short order it looks like the price increased $ 25.00 per ton... All of this increase in one day less than a full month!!! I tend to think that this will work itself out as far as availability to all, not so much the price coming down anytime soon, in fact I would have to assume it will only go up... Purchasing early, well ahead of the heating season may be the only option for those that do not want to have to go looking for it once the cold weather comes near... Purchase all of what you need for the entire heating season, heck, purchase as much as you can store and/or afford all in one shot, in one delivery if possible... I know I am going to start to feel this theory out just as soon as my coal bin allows the space, probably around beginning of April, feel out the market and until then pay attention to these type articles that have any information to offer...

MURDOC1 wrote:Purchase all of what you need for the entire heating season, heck, purchase as much as you can store and/or afford all in one shot, in one delivery if possible...

If everyone tries to order extra coal right now it will only make the current situation worse. I recommend that folks get what they need to make it through the winter, and place their order for next season's supply in the spring.

Real good post Rob. Greed is a funny thing as are the me, me, me's. uh-oh--that's why the good old USofA is in the fix it's in, don't ya think? We started way back when (USA) being a brotherhood of sorts & sincerly caring about the well-being of ourselves & our neighbors. Let's see where this coal situation goes & how things pan out.

Rob R. wrote:

MURDOC1 wrote:Purchase all of what you need for the entire heating season, heck, purchase as much as you can store and/or afford all in one shot, in one delivery if possible...

If everyone tries to order extra coal right now it will only make the current situation worse. I recommend that folks get what they need to make it through the winter, and place their order for next season's supply in the spring.

Rob, that is precisely what I have suggested, to purchase your seasons supply in the spring, I in no way suggest that anyone go buy coal right now (unless of course you NEED to), I placed my additional 2 ton order because I need it to make the remainder of the season on top of the 4 I already purchased in November... Think you may have misread...

Here is the whole statement, not just part of it:

Purchasing early, well ahead of the heating season may be the only option for those that do not want to have to go looking for it once the cold weather comes near... Purchase all of what you need for the entire heating season, heck, purchase as much as you can store and/or afford all in one shot, in one delivery if possible... I know I am going to start to feel this theory out just as soon as my coal bin allows the space, probably around beginning of April, feel out the market and until then pay attention to these type articles that have any information to offer...

Adam, I wasn't trying to spin your words by extracting only part of the post...sorry if it came off that way. It was just the part about purchasing as much as you can store that stuck out at me. e.g. If all of us with a big backyard ordered a TT load in April, that would also "shock" the system.

I just hope everyone can get what they need to stay warm this winter.

If you read the article, we have a classic case of supply and demand.

The demand is up so the supply is short. Throw a flood in there that disrupts mining, trucking and processing for a period of time. The price goes up. This makes it more economically feasible to invest in more equipment, dig deeper and mine more coal. The shortage will be short lived if the state starts granting mining permits. However, the price will not go down, as the investment in equipment will have to be paid.

Look at the steel scrap market. A few years ago you would have to pay to get rid of junk cars. Steel scrap prices are up now and everybody is looking for junk cars and equipment. The junk yards have never been busier.

Rob R. wrote:Adam, I wasn't trying to spin your words by extracting only part of the post...sorry if it came off that way. It was just the part about purchasing as much as you can store that stuck out at me. e.g. If all of us with a big backyard ordered a TT load in April, that would also "shock" the system.

Understood and agreed my friend, sorry for the confusion...

Rob R. wrote:I just hope everyone can get what they need to stay warm this winter.

Yes, I hope so too...