CIAB Market & Policy developments 2005/06 - IEA

136. In Canada, two new mines came on stream in British Columbia (B.C.) in 2006. The
Trend Mine of Northern Energy and Mining Inc. (NEMI) started coal production in
January 2006. The company has a mining permit to produce 2 million tonnes/year of
metallurgical coal for export. The Wolverine Mine of Western Canadian Coal Corp.
(WCC) began coal production in July 2006. The mine has a mining permit to produce 3
million tonnes/year of coking and PCI coal for export.
137. Canada’s total coal production in 2006 was about 66 million tonnes, a slight reduction
on 2005. Alberta produced 32 million tonnes, British Columbia 23.4 million tonnes and
Saskatchewan 10.4 million tonnes. Twenty-five coal mines were in operation at the end
of 2006, with most large-scale mines located in western Canada. Five companies
produce coking and PCI coal for exports, two companies produce bituminous steam coal
for exports and domestic use, and three companies produce sub-bituminous, lignite and
bituminous coal exclusively for domestic coal-fired power generation.
138. Of the total coal production 26 million tonnes was coking coal, solely for export, and 40
million tonnes was steam coal, mostly for domestic coal-fired power generation use. A
small portion of steam coal was also exported. The majority of the steam coal was subbituminous
coal and lignite; and about 10% was a bituminous grade steam coal.
139. Australian production was 308 million tonnes in 2006, slightly higher than in 2005, of
which 237.7 million tonnes or 77% was for export. 178 million tonnes (58%) of the
production was thermal coal. More recently, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and
Resources Economics has estimated7 that Australian coal production increased by 3%
in 2006-07 to 389 Mt. Of this, more than 80% was black coal (317 Mt) produced for both
export and domestic consumption in the states of Queensland, New South Wales and
Western Australia (domestic only) and the balance (72 Mt) was brown coal produced in
Victoria and South Australia exclusively for electricity generation.
140. In Germany, according to IEA estimates, hard coal production declined by over 4 million
tonnes (15%) to 23.7 million tonnes in 2006. Production in 2007 is expected to be
similar. It was agreed at the beginning of 2007 that hard coal mining activity in Germany
will be phased out by 2018, with a possible revision to this target in 2012. The Walsum
mine (2.1 million tonnes production in 2006) is planned to be shut down by mid-2008 and
the Lippe mine (1.5 million tonnes production in 2006) in 2009.
141. According to the Verein der Kohlenimporteure, coal imported into Germany totalled 46.5
million tonnes in 2006, an increase of 6.5 million tonnes over 2005. Of this, 29% was
imported via German ports, 26% via rail and 45% via barges from the ARA ports.
Estimated figures for the first half of 2007 are 21 million tonnes of steam coal and
6 million tonnes of coking coal.
142. In Spain, annual hard coal production was 11.7 million tonnes in 2006. There were 38
coal companies in Spain at the end of 2006 with a labour force of around 8,500 workers.
Imports of steam coal have been about 20 million tonnes, plus around 4 million tonnes of
metallurgical coal).
143. In the United Kingdom, indigenous hard coal production continued to decline during
2006 to 18.5 million tonnes, nearly 10% below the 2005 level (IEA provisional estimate
was 17.8 million tonnes, a 13% reduction). Deep-mined production fell only marginally,
while opencast production fell by 17%. Coal imports rose by 15% to 50.5 million tonnes.
The production trends accelerated in the first half of 2007, with total production 20%
lower and deep-mined production 32% lower than in the first half of 2006. Imports,
7 Australian Commodities, vol. 14, no.2, June Quarter 2007.
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