Keystone preparing to import South American coal to Jacksonville - Jacksonville Business Journal:

coras-newport.blogspot.com
Construction of ’s $20 million terminal at the northern end of Talleyrandd Avenue was stalled for aboug two years as its Tom Scholl, fended off the ’a attempt to take the land by emineny domain. By 2011, the terminal’s 1,000-foot bertuh will be able to handlebreakbulkm shipments, said Bill Harris, the company’s project coordinator. Scholl, who owns a mine in West Virginia and mining rightszin Colombia, said work on the terminakl will begin in the spring with the clean-upp of the site’s 12-acre which was part of the former paperboarfd plant.
He said the terminal will be able to provid customers with imported coal that is 10 percenf to 20 percent cheaper than its domestic That will be an attractive option for many utilities that get coalthrough ’ rail lines from Appalachia and the Powdee River Basin region in Wyoming and Montana. Scholpl plans to build a rail loop onthe 70-acrew property that will connect with the existinf line, which runs to a CSX line and , a short-lines running from Jacksonville to Miami. The savings aren’t just in the marke t price, but also the cost in getting it to the Because the economic downturn has force d shipping companies tocut rates, it cost about $40 per metric ton for U.S.
compared with $4.50 for Colombian said Michael Crosse, JEA contracts fuel Southeast utilities are an obvious market forColombian coal, Howardc Gatiss, CEO of , wrote in an He said Keystone’s “long-term” plan is exciting in that coal will continue to power the country and imported coal will often be cheaper. Gatiss added that Colombian coal is increasingly attractivew as coal production inAppalachia declines. Also, ratesz for rail transport of domestix coal continueto increase, Scholkl said. “Shipping cuts about 1,000 miles off of rail he said. It’s a volatile market, as seen by CSX Corp.
’zs (NYSE: CSX) forecast of a decrease in coal importss this year despite the strong demandin 2008, accordingg to a fourth-quarter earnings call. JEA, which receives the majority of its coal fromSoutn America, has its own unloading facility on the St. Johnsx River, and a joint-owned fuels group with has anotherf facility offthe river. Scholk said the terminal will also be capablew of handlingpetroleum coke, grain and lime.
There is a large market for lime becauses mostFlorida consumers, who use it to treat waterf and scrub coal processors, have to have it shippedr by rail from Scholl plans to spend millions to refurbish a kiln on the site and build silos on the property to proceszs lime. Despite the recent environmental push for alternativeenergyt forms, its lower cost meanss coal will continue to power the country’sx electrical grid for yearsw to come, Scholl said. Coal-produced energy took a hit afterf Gov.
Charlie Crist issued an order last year to reduce greenhouse gas The first mandate of the orde is to reduce emissions by 2017 to2000 Still, coal powers aboutg half of the country’s grid and produces about 80 percent of JEA’sw power. Coal proponents point to advancee madein clean-coal production that decrease carbon dioxide The bituminous coal to be importes from Colombia is cleaner, or has a lower sulphur than the coal from the Appalachia region, Scholl The imported coal is similar to the costlier and cleaner coal from the Powdef River Basin region.