Coal ain't coal.From what I can make out, the slump has...

Coal ain't coal.

From what I can make out, the slump has primarily been in the Chinese and Indian thermal markets. I wouldn't be surprised if coking coal prices were also off a bit, but that doesn't appear to be where the problem lies at the moment.

Impact on the anthracite market is probably marginal, at best.....especially in the South African domestic market. As Ian has pointed out, anthracite's competitor, coking coal, has to be paid for and landed in SA, and then converted into coke, at something like another $100 a tonne. Coking coal prices would have to fall a he'll of a lot before they would cut into Mbila's likely margin.

For the export markets, I've heard that anthracite somewhat tracks PCI coal prices....but we're still some way off exporting from Kangwane.