The anthracite is well suited for a new method called Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) and in this way it is a direct substitute or partial substitute for coking coal. The advantage is that all of the anthracite mass (and mining and shipping costs) are injected into the steel, whereas with a metallurgical coal a large proportion is lost as volatiles when the coal is coked and turned into what is essentially a porous carbon foam.
For this reason, anthracite should be more economic to use compared to coking coal, on a pound-for-pound basis, but the user must have the proper equipment and needs to make test runs before committing to a large purchase. Atrum will have difficulty providing enough of its Groundhog anthracite for a test batch, but should not have an issue with providing some of the Pennsylvania anthracite that it is trying to pedal. However, the Atrum Groundhog anthracite specifications (based on laboratory analyses) look good, so perhaps a test run is not really required? This is why the Japanese have invested in Panorama.
The anthracite has value, as the previous worldwide supplier, Vietnam, has pretty much ceased exports so it can use their raw material in-country. Therefore, there is an anthracite shortage. Even though the market for anthracite is generally pushed up above the coking coal prices because of this shortage and the partial-mass-loss reason, there is elasticity to the market because anthracite can be interchanged with coking coal. This elasticity has kept the anthracite prices from soaring, IMO.
Atrum has put out good ppt presentations in the past which present these concepts - too bad they can't muster the personnel to keep up with the communications. I am available if they need some help ;-)
ATU Price at posting:
18.5¢ Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Not Held
(20min delay)