Coalpail.com Forum

Why are mines already short on rice coal? Were they just not ready for the Fall rush?

rice coal is for the most part is waste coal, kinda like the floor sweepings sometimes you have a lot of therm some times you produce less waste .......

that is why I burn buck in both of my stoves the Harman burns so much better on it than rice

jeff

None of it is is "waste coal", it was in the past. Matter of fact they used to us the rice for making RR beds and other things like that. If they wanted to make more rice they could by changing the crusher or recrushing something like pea but both cost more money because of the extra processing and now you're making a lot more barley and fines which doesn't command the same price.

The rice coal supply has been short this time of year for the past few years so it's not something new, you'll usually get shortage late January as people get their second loads and breakers might be having trouble running because of the weather.

Locally (Summit Hill) there is a shortage issue. The story I have been told from the coal delivery guy is the company that took over the LC&N operation in Tamaqua has been exporting the coal that the have mined to China. They are not sorting or breaking it, just mining it and shipping it out. This has cause a shortage, and I was told by my delivery guy to get coal now because they are already rationing him on what he can get each day.

Perhaps there is a tight supply in Tamaqua, but your delivery guys should be able to get rice from a different source. A few weeks ago I called around to price loads of rice from different sources, and no one mentioned a shortage or delay. I ended up taking delivery of 22.5 tons of bagged rice. No waiting, no problem.

Both Kimmel an Blashack are ~4 weeks out right now.
At least in our area.. and the prices went up...

Dan

I think there is just a higher demand for many reasons - Anthracite is being used in steel production more plus more people are turning to home grown fuels do to the cost of Arab oil.

The guy who delivered my TT load of coal said TT loads to private individuals is more common now as people are looking to save money buyin in bulk.

Firewood around here is popular but is also scare because the economy has low demand for hardwood lumber products, hence there is not as much logging going on. Also, people are keeping there tops instead of letting the loggers sell them.

I know another guy that just installed a coal stove in his workshop instead of burning wood.

Demand is up and the industry will be slow to respond as there is major capital investment required to ramp up coal production.

Lesson is buy early. If you buy in summer before the price increases, the money saved will be better than interest earned in the bank by far.

you can thank OBAMA and M.S.H.A. for the coal shortage, regulations get tougher every day

Where can one still get a TT load of Buck? all of the sources around Tamaqua are limiting loads to 2 ton per day.

What types of new regulations are mines dealing with? I keep hearing this but no one ever gets specific. Its not that I don't believe it , I was just curious.

I can't speak to new regs once a mine is operating, but here in KY the Fed Gov is sitting on several applications to mine and applications to expand existing operations. By several I mean 15-20 the last time I checked. Remember, "I will put coal out of business" or something to that effect? They're achieving their goal here.

could be some regulations that protect the miners, and "our" environment. doubting that fed gov is actively involved in putting anthracite coal mines out of business. they are too busy putting the middle class out of business.

I called on coal a couple weeks ago and they said the price went up. No explanation and would not say how much. The price quote was $335/ton.

why wouldnt coal prices go up, when you are paying $3.55 a gal for non hi-way fuel. drag lines, loaders, dozers and haultrucks don't run on air, there are operators out there burning 2000 gals in an 8 hour shift.

Chuck_Steak wrote:Both Kimmel an Blashack are ~4 weeks out right now.
At least in our area.. and the prices went up...
Dan

And they just went up again....

Dan