After sanctioning Russia’s energy sector in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Europe was slapped with skyrocketing natural gas prices, prompting emergency government subsidies and far-fetched plans to construct LNG terminals and import the commodity from western nations.
In the interim, Europe also realized that its ultra-green initiatives such as solar and wind energy aren’t sufficient when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, prompting governments to quietly restart coal power plants to make up for the drastic electricity shortcomings.
But given that EU officials cannot think two— let alone one— step ahead, they also banned Russian coal imports, leaving them even more vulnerable to a cold, and dark winter ahead. Realizing this, Europe is now eyeing Zimbabwe coal, throwing all climate change commitments with the global community out the window. Contango Holdings, which is listed on the London exchange, said it received an abundance of requests from Europe and Asia to export thermal coal from its Zimbabwe mine as early as the new year.
Contango Holdings, which primarily focuses on supplying low-sulphur cooking coal to industrial markets such as the southern African ferro alloy, said it received “unsolicited approaches” from various European and Asian trading houses requesting thermal coal, which is typically used for electricity generation and is price attractive relative to other coal
. “Fuelled by the dramatic rise in thermal coal prices over the past 12 months … the board are now considering a coking and thermal operation, delivering 10 000 tonnes of coking coal and 10 000 tonnes of thermal coal per month based on current capacity in H1 2023,” the company said in a statement as cited by The Insider.
Information for this briefing was found via The Insider. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
