Canadians are optimistic about 2009, but a iittle cautious as well

摘要

There is an atmosphere of growing caution, tempered with a dose of optimism, in Canada concerning upcoming contract negotiations with Asian steel producers. "Everyone would like to know what China is going to do," one Canadian coal official told Coal Americas. "We've heard that China's largest steel producers have reduced production by 15 to 20 percent. And we know the country has a sizable amount of met coal that isn't selling on the domestic market. If China decides to flood the international market with the excess tonnage at the same time that we are negotiating fiscal 2009 contract prices, it could be damaging."