The global coal supply glut could persist for another one to two years, with little prospect of a sustained recovery in prices from current multi-year lows, participants at the Coaltrans Asia conference in Bali said this week. Oversupply is largely being driven by producers ramping up output to lower unit costs and to meet commitments under take-or-pay contracts. “Australian miners' take-or-pay obligations have resulted in a situation whereby it is cheaper for them to operate at a loss rather than cut back on their production,” Indonesian producer Harum Energy's marketing director David Heap said.
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