This article is a few years old but it gives an idea of the scope of OROB Chinese construction activities outside China. From a coking coal point of view, railways are more steel intensive than roads or ports but it all adds up to increasing steel demand & by implication more coking coal demand. https://www.topchinatravel.com/silk-road/one-belt-one-road.htm IMO, the Chinese OBOR initiative is more interesting than fickle foreign policy because it is enduring and symbiotic : the infrastructure will last for centuries ant serves both China's and the host country's economic needs. While the USA interacts economically with the rest of world via its multinational corporations with their predatory ecomonic goals , China is doing it via State owned conglomerates directed by the Politburo. The success or failure of this mega project will certainly influence the global trajectory of US capitalism vs the challenge of an emerging China for the global top dog position. Graham Allison has written an interesting book entitled " Destined to War...The Thucydidis Trap" https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/united-states-china-war-thucydides-trap/406756/ But back to coal: Coking coal comes in quality ranging from Hard Coking Coal, to semi Hard Coking Coal , Semi Soft Coking Coal & PCA Coal and the cost of extraction varies greatly depending on geographic location , strip ratio/seam depth, UG access and transport/shipping distances. Benification costs via a CHPP is also a factor. Emerging companies such as Tigers Realm Coal (ASX:TIG) have a longterm competitive advantage by being within 40 Klms of a deep sea shipping port site, a low strip ratio ranging between 3 & 5 to one and a resource of over 600 mil tons; enough to give a LOM of over 60 years.
