coal companies,set for another bumper year..

this will probably,mean very high prices for the next 3 to 5 years,the bull cycle for coal probably started about 6months ago....so its still early stages,

Annual price negotiations between Australian coal producers and Japanese steel makers could be settled early. The BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance is believed to be requesting a new contract price of $US104 per tonne for shipments in Japan's 2005-06 fiscal year. The price demand is a rise on the $US57 per tonne Australian producers secured in 2004-05. Trade reports from Japan indicate the current round of negotiations could be concluded by late December 2004, with Japanese steel makers reportedly starting to accept they will have to pay Australian producers as much as 80 per cent more for supplies of coking coal. Approximately 125 million tonnes of coal will be exported from Australia during 2005-06.