President Donald Trump is preparing to use Cold War-era authorities to dole hundreds of millions of federal dollars to support coal-fired electricity as well as US exports of the fossil fuel.
Is there even enough of an international market for coal right now for there to be an appreciable number of buyers for the coal? Coal mines shut down in the first place because people weren’t using coal. I know a few places have brought some coal back into play due to Strait-of-Hormuz-related issues, but is it enough to fuel demand, especially from countries who have ample reason to be Not Happy with the US right now and may have other available sources of coal?
The American coal industry being able to ship to foreign consumers is what is keeping it afloat, is my point.
The USA uses more renewables than coal now. There have been two Trump upticks but otherwise we’re well on the way to phasing it out.
The Chinese market is still robust, if they cut 3/4 of their use out they’d still have a larger consumption than the American market at its peak, hence why the USA enjoys their use.
The total coal exports of the US are like 2% of Chinas coal consumption and the volume of US coal mining is about 10% of what China consumes. It really does not take much to kill that market.
Exactly, which is why China is so important. If they even have a fairly small drop in coal consumption, that basically kills US coal exports and therefore the US coal industry.
Is there even enough of an international market for coal right now for there to be an appreciable number of buyers for the coal? Coal mines shut down in the first place because people weren’t using coal. I know a few places have brought some coal back into play due to Strait-of-Hormuz-related issues, but is it enough to fuel demand, especially from countries who have ample reason to be Not Happy with the US right now and may have other available sources of coal?
No idea, but the US actively exports a fair bit of coal
Think it’s mostly undeveloped countries and Germany that use it for power generation
You mean underdeveloped countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and the US? All of them produce much more power using coal then Germany…
The big one is China and then with a massive gap India.
The US mined 410Mt of coal last year, which is obviously not all exported. There are a few countries, which buy coal in meaningful amounts, that such a terminal could make sense.
However the largest potential importer is China and that is falling.
falling yes, but even “falling” it currently uses nearly 4x the coal that the USA was using during its peak use.
Currently China makes up more then half of global consumption. So if they have a fast decline, that can completely destroy the global coal market.
Yes, but that’s unlikely in the short term.
The American coal industry being able to ship to foreign consumers is what is keeping it afloat, is my point.
The USA uses more renewables than coal now. There have been two Trump upticks but otherwise we’re well on the way to phasing it out.
The Chinese market is still robust, if they cut 3/4 of their use out they’d still have a larger consumption than the American market at its peak, hence why the USA enjoys their use.
The total coal exports of the US are like 2% of Chinas coal consumption and the volume of US coal mining is about 10% of what China consumes. It really does not take much to kill that market.
Idk if you’re just wildly misinterpreting what I am saying or ???
The foreign coal markets are what is keeping the American coal industry afloat. That’s what I am saying.
The USA is largely phasing coal out, Trump and co are trying to stop this because they’re stupid.
The coal industry in the USA is dead without foreign purchasers.m, of which China is one.
Exactly, which is why China is so important. If they even have a fairly small drop in coal consumption, that basically kills US coal exports and therefore the US coal industry.
Much like the cigarette market, dominated by American tobacco producers, looks to the rest of the world.
You’ve caught up with my statement.