Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Walter Energy’s Wolverine coal mine, the first Canadian operation the company closed last year.
Last week was a tough one for the U.S. coal industry, already hit by competition from inexpensive natural gas, tougher environmental rules and a global coal glut that has decimated prices.
Late on Wednesday, coal producer Walter Energy (NYSE:WLT) (TSX:WLT) announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The expected decision by the miner that once employed more than 1,000 people in Canada’s British Columbia, was closely followed by a report from The Wall Street Journal saying that competitor Alpha Natural Resources, one of the U.S.’s three largest publicly listed coal companies, was preparing to do the same.
On Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading the miner’s stock and said it would begin a process to delist the company. The news came on the same day that President Barack Obama’s administration proposed new mining rules, including a prohibition on mining within 100 feet of streams, putting further pressure on an industry already facing historic strains.
The country’s total coal production has shrunk about 15% since 2008, and coal stockpiles keep growing at mines as coal-fired power plants shut down month after month.
The commodity, which once fired half of the country’s power now accounts for just under 40%. And the Energy Department projects that percentage will slide further, to 34% in 2040, as power plants turn to natural gas and renewables like wind and solar power.
2 Comments
MEADEGUNNELL
Yes Barack Obama has changed the USA. His agenda is to break the USA steel supply by closing all mining operations. I suppose we dont need any more war ships, tanks, or armored vehicles. We have spent all our money on Obamacare and giving minority contracts with the rest of the balance.
Diogenes60025
A surplus and a scarcity can exist for any commodity at the same time and place. The surplus is always high-cost, or low quality, and the scarcity is always low cost or high quality. We have a glut of high-cost coal.
High-cost legacy producers must leave the industry. The sooner this occurs, the sooner we’ll have a smaller, and more profitable industry.
We have a coal project that can put Eastern bituminous coal in the car for $0.80/MMBTU, and we’re just waiting for sales opportunities.