European Coal Production Drops in First Half of 2015

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Europe's coal production market was down during the first six months of 2015, as global overproduction and low prices took their toll.

The figures from the European Association for Coal and Lignite (Euracoal) show that the sector total for the first half of the year was 338.6 million tonnes, down from 348 million tonnes for the same period in 2014. Within that figure, domestic hard coal production accounted for 50.4 million tonnes; hard coal imports stood at 95 million tonnes; and lignite production at 193.1 million tonnes. All three sectors showed decreases from the same period last year.

"The coal industry in Europe is pushed on three sides: worldwide low coal prices, due to overproduction; low electricity prices due to subsidised renewables; and regulatory pressure to modernize, a task made difficult due to limited public and private financing for the sector," Euracoal stated.

Coal consumption in Europe is declining in a number of key countries. In the U.K., hard coal production fell while its consumption of 17.5 million in the first six months was the lowest since 1830, when the first steam trains appeared. The country's carbon tax--paid by power plant owners on the delivery of coal--doubled this year, prompting many to stock up before the change.

About 25% of the U.K.'s coal-fired fleet will close by March 2016, under the terms of the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD). This will result in the loss of 5.3 gigawatts (GW) of power as plants--including Longannet, Ferrybridge and Eggborough--are retired. At the same time, the U.K.'s last deep mine, Kellingley, will close before Christmas, while the Thoresby and Hatfield mines were closed this summer. For additional information, see July 28, 2015, article - U.K. Ends 300 Years of Deep Coal Mining.

Globally, Euracoal said that preliminary projections for 2015 show a slight decline in global hard coal production: 7,100 million tonnes, in comparison with 7,200 million tonnes in 2014. China, by far the world's largest producer, will record a drop of 6% to 3,400 million tonnes. The U.S. probably will decline production by 9%, to 829 million tonnes. Production volumes in Russia, South Africa and, notably, Poland also are sliding.

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