Steag GmbH closed its Bergkamen-A plant in the western part of the country this week due to shortages of hard coal, it said by email. The closure is the first sign that Europe may need to count on mild and windy weather to keep the lights on as the continent faces shortages of natural gas and coal is unlikely to come to rescue.
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“We are short of hard coal,” said Daniel Muhlenfeld, a Steag spokesman. “There is a strong demand for coal per se and secondly, there is a strong demand for transport by barge. And since Bergkamen has no rail connection, there are no logistical alternatives available here.
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Coal is trading at sky-high levels, putting an industry benchmark on track to break on Friday the previous record of $192.50 set in July 2008. Several cargoes of Australian coal changed hands above $200 a metric ton on Tuesday, according to traders who saw the transactions on the globalCOAL platform.
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