JAKARTA, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Some Indonesian coal traders have declared force majeure after a trade rule change, with around 60-70 vessels stuck in various ports and 3.5 million tonnes unable to be shipped, the chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association said on Tuesday.

The delays to shipments for buyers in China and India from the world’s top thermal coal exporter comes as a cyclone threatens exports from the largest coal exporter Australia, and global markets are vulnerable to further supply disruptions. Read more »

SYDNEY/PERTH (Reuters) – Australia’s devastating floods could remove over 5 percent of steelmaking coal from world markets this year and lift prices by a third or more, analysts estimated on Wednesday, as damage and disruption to coal infrastructure continue to spread.

Australia’s Bowen Basin coal district, the heart of the coking coal industry in Queensland state, is slowly emerging from floods that have since raced south, but recovery has been slow, with one Queensland coal port closed and two restricted. Read more »

Coal Mine Explosion

BEIJING – An explosion at a coal mine in central China killed 26 miners who were working despite an order to halt production, officials said Wednesday, while a mine tunnel collapse elsewhere left four dead in the latest accidents to strike the country’s mining industry.

The death toll from the blast that struck Tuesday evening at the operation in Henan province’s Mianchi County doubled after 13 more bodies were found, said an official surnamed Li from the Henan Administration of Coal Safety. Read more »

Sherritt International To Buy Controlling Stake Nickel Project In Indonesian

Sherritt International Corp will acquire a controlling stake in the Sulawesi nickel project in Indonesia from Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO) for an undisclosed amount. Read more »

ITALIAN COAL ASSOCIATION

Press Release – This year Italy will import 17 million tons of steam coal, up 3% from 2009, and 5.5 million tons of coking coal and PCI, up 37% over last year. These are some of the figures disclosed by Mr Andrea Clavarino, Chairman of the Italian Coal Association – Assocarboni – during the Coal Industry Advisory Board plenary meeting, held in Paris on November 18th and 19th 2010.

Mr Clavarino, who is delegate of the Italian Government to the CIAB board – the coal consultative body of the IEA, the OCSE energy watchdog – therefore stated the Italian steam coal market has fully recovered after the crisis, and Italian imports are growing again. Read more »