PERTH, June 8 (Reuters) – Miners at Australia’s BHP Billiton
Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), the world’s biggest exporter of
metallurgical coal, voted on Wednesday to strike, likely early
next week, a union official said on Wednesday.

“Monday and Tuesday, it looks like strike action is going to
take place … 4,000 workers are going to take strike,” an
official for the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union
said.

PERTH, June 8 (Reuters) – Australia’s thermal coal prices
rose slightly in the week to Tuesday, but stayed in the recent
range below $120 per tonne as the market looked to a recovery in
Japanese demand.

Thermal coal on the globalCOAL Newcastle index for the week
to date was $118.43 per tonne on Tuesday, up 93 cents from
$117.50 a week earlier, but down from $119.34 on Friday.

PERTH (Reuters) – Brent crude slipped toward $115 a barrel on Monday on concern about demand after disappointing jobs data from top consumer United States, but a softer dollar and political upheaval in the Middle East limited losses.

The possibility that OPEC will raise supply when ministers meet this week also put pressure on prices. Gulf Arab members led by Saudi Arabia will push for a rise, but were likely to face opposition from OPEC’s leading hawks Iran and Venezuela.

PERTH, June 2 (Reuters) – Asia’s thermal coal markets were
focused on Chinese demand as the world’s largest coal consumer
faces what is expected to be the worst power shortage in years.

Chinese buyers have been in the market for both Indonesian
and Australian coal as domestic prices in the world’s largest
coal producing country have shot up.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, May 31 (Reuters) – Coal producers in
Indonesia and Australia are racing to ramp up output to capture
Asia’s booming demand for power that has quickly filled the gap
left by a drop in demand from quake-hit Japan, executives at a
conference said on Tuesday.

Exports of coal from Indonesia, the world’s top exporter of
thermal coal used to fuel power stations, were diverted to China
in the wake of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in
March, showing the hunger of the rest of Asia to soak up
available spot cargoes.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, May 31 (Reuters) – South Korea’s East
West Power (EWP) is looking to increase coal imports from the
United States as it looks to diversify its supply sources from
Indonesia and Australia to manage rising coal costs, a company
executive said on Tuesday.

South Korean utilities, or gencos, have looked farther
afield as prices in the Pacific basin for coal from the world’s
two largest coal exporters, Indonesia and Australia have risen,
Jason Jang, EWP’s head of fuel procurement told Reuters on the
sidelines of an industry conference.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, May 31 (Reuters) – Indonesia will lead
global growth in thermal coal exports in the next decade with
producers Bumi Resources and Adaro Energy
becoming two of the top three coal exporting companies worldwide
by 2015, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Tuesday.

The Southeast Asian country, already the world’s top thermal
coal exporter, will make up 39 percent of global increases in
coal exports, with Australia coming in a close second,
accounting for 36 percent of export growth.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, May 30 (Reuters) – Top coal consumer
China should see import demand more than double in the next four
years and India will be close behind as both hoover up supplies
on international markets to feed rapidly growing power
industries, industry executives said on Monday.

China’s thermal coal imports could rise to 200 million
tonnes in 2015 from around 90 million tonnes in 2011, Neil Dhar,
executive vice president of trading house Noble Group ,
told the Coaltrans Asia conference.

PERTH/NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) – Asian spot prices for liquefied natural
gas (LNG) rose to around $13.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) as
demand picks up ahead of summer, but trade was limited by a lack of ships to
transport the fuel.

“Asia is still seeing demand for cargoes although prices are holding more
steady,” ICAP analysts said in a note.

PERTH/JAKARTA (Reuters) – As China tries to cope with what may be its worst power shortage in years, coal demand from the world’s biggest consumer is likely to take centre stage at one of Asia’s largest coal industry gatherings in Indonesia next week.

China will face stiff competition for coal shipped by Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal, from India where demand for electricity is rising in an economy seen growing around 8.5 percent.