Coal news and updates

Colombian November coal exports up 11.2% from a year ago: agency

Colombian exports of coal in November totaled 6,704,149 mt, 11.2% more than the 6,029,876 mt shipped in the same month last year and up 4.5% from the 6,356,000 mt exported in October, according to data posted Tuesday on the website of the government statistics agency DANE.

But plagued in 2013 by rebel attacks, labor disputes and government-mandated suspensions, Colombia remains behind the export pace set in 2012. Through November, year-to-date shipments totaled 67,695,455 mt, down 5.4% from the 71,589,387 mt shipped over the same 11 months in 2012.

Colombian output in the coming weeks remains in doubt as the government said Tuesday it was opening an investigation into the operations of US-based Drummond, the country's second-largest coal miner. The probe will focus on the company's alleged failure to comply with new rules that took effect January 1 prohibiting the use of barges to shuttle coal from shore to freighter.

An estimated 300 mt of coal was dumped into the Caribbean in January 2013 when a Drummond barge capsized. The government then suspended all Drummond coal shuttles for several weeks.

For all of 2013, the country's coal miners will be fortunate to reach the 77 million mt full-year target, revised downward by the mining and energy ministry from the 94 million mt goal set at the beginning of 2013.

Because of softer global coal prices, export receipts failed to match those of the year-ago month despite the 11.2% jump in volume. Coal export revenue for the month was $574 million, off 0.2% from the $575.1 million collected in November 2012.

For the 11 months of 2013, export revenue stood at $5.9 billion, down 18.3% from the $7.239 billion collected over the comparable period in in 2012.

Source: Platts