The rebound phase for the coal industry from the 2008-2009 turmoil
continued in 2011. The global economic outlook started improving
following the turmoil of late 2008. The U.S. economy came out of
the recession in the summer of 2009 and has been in a recovery mode
since then, though the pace of improvement appears to have weakened
lately.
Like the other commodity sectors, the fortunes of the coal industry
are closely tied to the health of the global economy. The
post-recession demand recovery helped improve the group’s earnings
power, with most coal companies solidly profitable in 2010. This
uptrend in demand, largely driven by the improvement in the global
economic activity, rebound in domestic power demand, favorable
weather patterns and soaring coal demand from Asian countries, also
continued into 2011.
Coal Fuels Power Generation: As we already know, coal as a
major source of fuel for power generation dominates the Utility
industry. Coal is used to generate about half of the electricity
consumed in the United States, and is also the largest
domestically-produced source of energy. Electricity generation
absorbs about 93% of total of U.S. coal consumption. The reason is
simple: coal is by far the least expensive and most abundant fossil
fuel in the country.
In contrast, petroleum and nuclear power as a source of power
generation have been losing market share displaced by the strong
growth of renewable sources of generation and natural gas-fired
generation. Petroleum is losing out to coal because it is becoming
increasingly expensive.
The outlook for nuclear energy appears bleak at the moment because
it has been dealt a severe blow by the current ongoing events in
Japan. The chaotic situation in Japan that has created an uncertain
future for the nuclear industry is also a net positive for the coal
industry.
Coal as an Input for Steel Industry: Coal as a fuel source
also contributes to the production of steel. The demand for
metallurgical coal (coking coal), a key ingredient in the
production of steel, has increased from 2009 levels based on the
recovery of the global steel industry.
The rise in demand for steel in China, followed by India, acted as
a major driver for global demand and influenced the pricing for
coking coal in 2010. This was also seconded by a recovering demand
in the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. steel industry operated at about a
70% utilization rate in 2010 compared to a 40% utilization rate for
most of 2009.
Industry Trends
Demand for U.S. coal was strong in the first quarter. This was
mainly driven by metallurgical exports but demand for thermal coals
remains strong in both the domestic and international markets.
Demand Upsurge in Asian Countries: The global upsurge in
coal demand has been the key price driver since the end of the
recession. We expect this trend to continue in future mainly due to
the growing energy needs of the world’s two largest coal consumers,
India and China.
China, the world's fastest growing major economy, has massive coal
reserves. But China's energy consumption in 2010 witnessed such
rapid growth that the country’s imports for the year exceeded
exports. China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's heaviest
consumer of coal. In spite of the rise in China's coal imports and
ample domestic coal production, the country continued to experience
shortages in 2010.
Meanwhile, with the rising population and economic growth India
witnessed in 2010, the country’s demand for coal has also risen
substantially. Coal accounts for nearly 55% of the country's energy
consumption needs. The last four decades has seen the country’s
commercial energy consumption rise by about 700%. Going forward,
India plans to double electricity generation capacity by 2012,
which could see the country importing in excess of 200 million tons
of coal.
U.S. Coal Exports on the Upside: Strong global demand for
coal, particularly for metallurgical coal used to produce steel,
resulted in sharp increases in U.S. coal exports. The earthquake in
Japan may have been a short-term dampener on growth, but globally,
the steel industry remains in full growth mode. China, the world's
largest blast furnace iron producer, continued its strong growth in
2011 with over 58% of the world's production.
Supply constraints in key nations such as Australia, Indonesia,
South Africa, South America and Canada, prices for metallurgical
and thermal coal provide opportunity for more exports from the U.S.
Thus we believe met coal companies like
Arch Coal
Inc. (ACI),
Walter Energy Inc. (WLT),
Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) and
Patriot Coal Corporation (PCX) form attractive
investment avenues.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the
United States exported 51% more coal in the first six months of
2010 than it did for the entire 2009. While coking coal remains the
primary export, exports of steam coal led recent growth, rising
160% over the same period.
The EIA expects U.S. coal exports to remain elevated in 2011,
reaching an annual level of 98 million short tons (mmst). The EIA
expects total coal exports to fall back to typical historical
levels of approximately 80 mmst in 2012 as supply from other major
coal-exporting countries recovers.
The EIA also expects the strong global demand for coal to continue
to suppress coal imports, with imports at levels below 19 mmst in
both 2011 and 2012. U.S. coal imports averaged about 31 mmst
annually from 2004 through 2009.
Given the growing demand from the fast-growing Asian economies, we
find companies exporting coal to international locations attractive
for investment. Some of the names having such exposure are
Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU) and
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX).
Thermal Coal Prices Stable: Demand for coal used in the
electric power sector saw a modest rise in 2010 due to the higher
electricity consumption during the hot summer. Over the last 10
years, the prices for coal delivered to this sector also have seen
a relatively steady increase reflecting longer-term coal contracts
initiated during a period of high energy prices, rising
transportation costs and increased consumption.
However, the EIA projects the price of thermal coal used in power
generation will remain stable in 2011 and 2012 as coal competes
with natural gas for generation market share. The projected
power-sector delivered coal price, which averaged $2.26 per MMBtu
in 2010, averages $2.28 per MMBtu and $2.26 per MMBtu in 2011 and
2012, respectively.
The key thermal coal players in the industry include
James
River Coal Co. (JRCC) and
Cloud Peak
Energy (CLD). Apart from this, certain coal master limited
partnerships (MLP) including
Penn Virginia Resource
Partners L.P. (PVR),
Natural Resource Partners
L.P. (NRP) and
Alliance Resources Partners
L.P. (ARLP) are also good investments for people seeking
exposure in the coal sector.
Common Threats
Environmental Legislations: Coal has been losing its
importance as a fuel source over the last few years, particularly
in the U.S., vis-à-vis other sources that have a lesser impact on
the environment. Concerns on the emission of greenhouse gases and
global climate change have resulted in the formulation of new
legislations and policies which emphasize on the use of
environment-friendly fuel sources, particularly in the power
sector.
This has considerably slowed the expansion of coal-fired capacity
in the power sector, with utility companies now building new
natural gas-fired plants and resorting to alternative sources of
energy generation like wind, solar and hydro power. It remains to
be seen what impact the Japan disaster will have on the industry’s
fortunes going forward. But it has to be a net positive.
Natural Gas Substituting Coal: A major substitute for coal
in energy generation is natural gas. Natural gas is usually an
attractive choice for new generating plants because of its relative
fuel efficiency, low emissions, quick construction timelines, and
low capital costs. Cheaper natural gas and large coal inventories
have greatly hurt the U.S. and European thermal coal demand in
2009. Looking ahead, we expect the thermal coal demand to remain
slightly under pressure based on the expectations of lower gas
prices.
Natural gas generation is likely to become more competitive over
the coming years given its abundant domestic availability and the
threat of regulation hanging over the Coal Mining industry. Not
only coal, natural gas also substitutes the use of renewable and
nuclear energy for electricity generation, as new natural gas-fired
plant is much cheaper to build than new renewable or nuclear
plants.
Competition from Alternative Energy Sources: Apart from
natural gas, the coal industry has been losing a major share of its
electric generation demand to renewable sources of energy like
wind, solar and hydro power. Generation from renewable resources
grows in response to key Federal tax credits, but it is expected to
be lower in 2011 than in 2010 because of lower natural gas prices
and higher costs for new wind power plants.
Growth in renewables has also been supported by the many State
requirements which stipulate the installation of renewable sources
of electricity generation as mandated by Renewal Energy Standards
(RES). The share in energy generation of renewable fuels (including
conventional hydro) is projected to grow from 11% in 2009 to 14% in
2035, as per EIA’s long-term outlook.
Conclusion
Though there is ample pressure from legislations and competition
from natural gas and renewable energy sources, we believe the
global power industry will continue to depend on coal for a large
part of its generation. Coal as a fuel source will continue to
power the growth in emerging nations like China and India, both for
utility companies and steel makers. This trend gets a further boost
from problems that Japan has been facing with its nuclear reactors
following the earthquake and Tsunami.
With the discovery of abundant shale natural gas in the U.S. and
the lower natural gas prices, the long-term competitive dynamics
may have moved notably against coal. It is, however, far from
certain or clear at this stage.
Moreover, coal and utility companies in the U.S. and across the
world are adopting the development of clean coal technology to
achieve near-zero emissions, which opens up avenues for potential
long-term industry growth. Clean coal technology development in the
U.S. has funding earmarked under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009. This is an encouraging sign for world
coal producers.
ARCH COAL INC (ACI): Free Stock Analysis Report
ALPHA NATRL RES (ANR): Free Stock Analysis Report
ALLIANCE RES (ARLP): Free Stock Analysis Report
PEABODY ENERGY (BTU): Free Stock Analysis Report
CLOUD PEAK EGY (CLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
CONSOL ENERGY (CNX): Free Stock Analysis Report
JAMES RIVER CL (JRCC): Free Stock Analysis Report
NATURAL RSRC LP (NRP): Free Stock Analysis Report
PATRIOT COAL CP (PCX): Free Stock Analysis Report
PENN VA RESRC (PVR): Free Stock Analysis Report
WALTER ENERGY (WLT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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